Seattle residents tend to avoid Starbucks, especially the ones who’ve lived here longest, since our city is teeming with indie coffee shops that offer tasty, non-corporate options for a caffeine fix. But this might change, at least temporarily, after Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz announced that the coffee behemoth will be hiring 10,000 refugees worldwide over the next five years, a direct response to President Donald Trump’s recent executive order that bans immigrants and refugees from seven Muslim-majority countries from entering the US.
Trump supporters have been clamoring on social media, denouncing the move and making threats of boycotting the brand, complaining the company is giving away jobs that could be filled by American veterans and various unemployed Americans as a whole. There’s even a hashtag—#BoycottStarbucks—but it’s now been overtaken by the anti-Trump masses and people with humanitarian hearts poking fun at the self-righteous outrage.
And so the great American divide continues, one steaming cup at a time…
