Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz no shrinking Violet when it comes to tackling tough subjects, once again braved the heat by asking his company’s baristas to broach the subject of race with customers.
The initial part of the campaign was that baristas write the words “race together” on coffee cups as they serve customers.
That part of the campaign ended March 22nd . Shultz insists that negative backlash is not behind the termination of that effort. The cup writing part “was always just the catalyst for a much broader and longer term conversation” about racial inequality and diversity, he said.
The response to race together has been mixed including some harsh backlash on social media, including threats against some executives of Starbucks.
Hold that thought though.….
I am not sure whether surly half-awake people heading to work without their first bit of morning pick-you-upper are ready to broach the tedious and thorny subject of race.
Notwithstanding, I commend Howard Schultz for daring to want to fix the cancerous problem of race in America.
Speaking to CNN Schultz said “If we all continue to be bystanders on something that’s dividing the nation, then where is this headed? We are better than this as a country,”.
I agree that if we continue to be bystanders on something that’s dividing the nation we are heading , well, nowhere..
Not sure I agree America is better than this !
In fact America has shown it is not better than this.
How could America claim to be better than this in the year 2015 when there are racial divisions so deep and divisive that people are threatened with death for daring to speak out and wanting change?
How is America better than this when people are being killed by police because of the color of their skin?
I hear a lot of talk about the need for a national conversation on race.
This argument has been at the fore-front of ever instance where race is present in an issue.
We hear it from the President down to every talking-head on Television.
I’m not quite sure how that would occur? How is a national conversation on race initiated? How is it executed?.
For the most part African Americans are particularly enthused about such a conversation.
Black leaders have never seen a conference they did not like.
Give our people the opportunity to dress up and attend a conference and they are in” hogs-heaven”.
The only problem is that after they attend these dress-up talk fests nothing ever change.
They go back to their deprived communities where things remain just the way they have always been.
Me ? I was never one for all of that nonsensical talk, I guess it’s my Jeans T‑shirt and boots mentality , just do it like Nike says.
So lets quickly examine some simple facts surrounding racism in America.
There is no reason to beat around the bush and pretend. You cannot fix what you do not identify, so lets identify the problem.
(1) WHITES STARTED RACISM IN AMERICA.
Whites started racist discriminatory practices in America, they can end it when they chose.
This practice pre-dates slavery. The practice of white superiority was what caused European settlers (mostly prison inmates) to almost decimate the native American population.
It was that mentality which created the slave trade and the pogrom unleashed on African people both on the motherland and those uprooted and transplanted here in the western hemisphere.
It was white ignorance, and grandiose ideas of racial superiority which cost untold millions of lives in the middle passage and here in the land of bondage.
It was whites who initiated this carnage on not only blacks, but all of the native people they found, not just here in the Americas but as far away as Australia, New Zealand and India.
(2) WHITES CAN END IT.
Whites can end the ignoble practice which teaches and places one race above another, yet in far too many household children are taught that they are superior to others.
It is not accidental that many communities, towns, counties and states are still rabidly discriminatory to some people based on race.
Where do the children learn these behavior patterns?
They learn them from their parents, they learn them from their friends whose parents teach their kids to hate.
(3) MANY WHITES DO NOT WANT TO CHANGE.
Many whites understand the benefits of “white privilege” and they are not about to give it up.
Even those who claim not to be racist do benefit from white privilege even though they don’t know it, or may not even ask for it.
Getting a pass on a ticket,or not getting pulled over harassed or worse, is white privilege.
Having access to loans because of connections is white privilege.
Being spoken to with respect by police is white privilege.
Racism persist because people benefit from it, they are not about to give up the perks because it’s right or moral.
Some say you can’t legislate that people do away with discriminatory racial attitudes and practices.
I disagree.
There is legislation for everything else, you may not be able to change people’s heart with legislation but you damn sure can make it expensive if they display racist attitudes toward others.
Eventually they will get the message right?
Yeah .…
You see, the reason we are still dealing with this crap, is that too many who are supposed to draft and pass the appropriate legislation into law are the most vile racist creatures.