The manager of a Philadelphia Starbucks that became the site of protests after an alleged racist incident has left the company, Philly.com reports.
Last Thursday, two black men were arrested at the Starbucks location for allegedly trespassing. The men, who were apparently meeting an acquaintance and had yet to order, were held in custody for eight hours. Video of the arrests, in which patrons questioned the police and the manager’s motives, went viral, and, since then, protesters have demanded accountability from the company. According to Philly.com, about 40 protesters occupied the coffee shop on Monday.
Protesters tell Starbucks employees 18th and Spruce that they’re to blame for Thursday arrests. pic.twitter.com/iRS8tDlYCF
— Cassie Owens (@cassieowens) April 16, 2018
In response to the incident, Starbucks CEO and Bellevue resident Kevin Johnson released a statement saying that he hopes to meet with the men who were arrested and that Starbucks employees will be trained on implicit bias. “Additionally,” he wrote, “we will host a company-wide meeting next week to share our learnings, discuss some immediate next steps and underscore our long-standing commitment to treating one another with respect and dignity. I know our store managers and partners work hard to exceed our customers’ expectations every day—which makes this very poor reflection on our company all the more painful.”
Johnson’s statement, however, is unlikely to make things better for the company. On Monday, a video of a black man at Los Angeles Starbucks who was denied access to the bathroom while a white man was not started to spread on social media.
Here we go again.
Meet Brandon Ward. He was @Starbucks – about to make a purchase – and needed to use the restroom.
They denied him the code.
He then finds a white man, Weston, who came out of the restroom.
He had not made a purchase but they gave HIM the code.
RACISM. pic.twitter.com/2UGZ20aOtF
— Shaun King (@ShaunKing) April 16, 2018
