We reported on this story earlier today. Now VOX is out with the CEO’s justification for this stupidity. Yet even they can’t give him a complete pass.
Nooo, REALLY? It *sounds* like it could be disastrous? Genius alert!
Side note: Must have taken every ounce in them to print something even remotely along these lines.
Via VOX:
According to Starbucks, the Race Together initiative is an outgrowth of the discussion forums the company held in response to the outcry over racially biased policing after Michael Brown’s death in Ferguson, Missouri, and Eric Garner’s in Staten Island, New York.
It appears to be a reflection of Schultz’s sincere distress over the pain and hostility that often underlies national headlines and controversies related to race and racism. While there is no shortage of tweets making light of the potential pitfalls of the effort, it would be unfair not to note that Race Together is probably an honest attempt on his part to make America better.
That said, the initiative’s undefined goals (encouraging people to talk generally about race without any measurable objective) and misguided tactics (setting people up to have complicated conversations without any direction or guidance) mean it’s very unlikely to fix the racial bias that sparked it — and could even cause harm by distracting from substantive attempts to remedy racial inequality.
Talking about race isn’t unusual
Race Together’s premise seems to rest on the assumption that Americans don’t like to talk about race, and that people buying and selling coffee can bravely take the lead in this area.
“We at Starbucks should be willing to talk about these issues in America,” Schultz said.