q

Starbucks Racial Bias Training 'Uncomfortable' and 'Enlightening': Employees React; Some baristas wonder how to implement lessons discussed Tuesday in their day-to-day jobs Jargon, Julie; Feintzeig, Rachel . Wall Street Journal (Online) ; New York, N.Y. [New York, N.Y]31 May

2018: n/a.

ProQuest document link

FULL TEXT Some Starbucks Corp. employees said they found this week's company training on racial bias eye-opening. But

others said they felt uncomfortable and were left unsure how to apply the lessons to their daily jobs, suggesting

the coffee chain has a difficult task ahead.

"By the end of it I was very exhausted. These are conversations I don't ever have at work," said Jaime Prater, a

biracial shift supervisor at a Starbucks in Rancho Cucamonga, Calif., who participated in the four hours of

exercises and discussions. "I don't think Starbucks realized how uncomfortable it would be for people of color to

have to watch these videos and talk about this. But sometimes we need to be uncomfortable."

Krystie Ward, a barista in Patchogue, N.Y., said Tuesday's training was enlightening, particularly a

short documentary produced for Starbucks by filmmaker Stanley Nelson Jr. that detailed the history of access to

public spaces for African-Americans. It featured a black man describing how he is often followed around stores by

employees who suspect he is going to steal something. He said he has to be aware of the way he acts every time

he leaves his house, like making sure to keep his hands visible in certain places.

"That was really powerful to me, because I couldn't imagine living my life like that," said Ms. Ward, who is white.

At the more-than-8,000 company-owned cafes that closed for business Tuesday afternoon , employees divided into

groups and huddled around iPads to watch a series of videos featuring diversity experts, Starbucks executives and

the hip-hop artist Common talking about the nature of bias and why it is important to create a welcoming

environment for all guests at Starbucks.

They also listened to a series of audio recordings of Starbucks employees describing interactions they have had

with customers in which their own biases became apparent.

In one, an employee recalled seeing a scruffy-looking man approach a woman in line and hold out his hand to her,

after which the woman got money out of her purse. The employee said she went up to the man and told him

panhandling isn't allowed in the store. The woman informed her the man was her husband.

After listening to each clip, the employees discussed how they would have reacted.

The Wall Street Journal reached out to dozens of baristas across the country and was connected to some

employees by the company.

Cordell Lewis, manager of the Ferguson, Mo., Starbucks, was among the employees who said the training seemed

to make some African-Americans uncomfortable. He said he could see employees' shoulders tighten as they

leaned forward in their chairs. Mr. Lewis, who is biracial, also said the emphasis on relations between black and

white people left some employees feeling excluded, something he raised with company leaders. "I have trans

partners and Philippine partners, and they were like, 'What about me?'"

Still, Mr. Lewis, introduced to the Journal by Starbucks, said the training was the "most dynamic and diverse" he

has received in over 15 years in retail management.

Carla Ruffin, Starbucks' regional-operations director for the New York metro area, also introduced to the Journal by

the coffee chain, said employees shouldn't feel burdened. "There is no price to being gracious and having a smile

and wanting to improve someone's day. It doesn't take sweat."

Ms. Ruffin, who is African-American, said that when members of her exercise group were asked to discuss the first

time they remembered experiencing bias, everyone said middle school. She said that was an example of how

people are more alike than different--and that it showed how little she knew about her colleagues.

Starbucks decided to hold the training sessions after a store manager in Philadelphia called the police in April

about two black men who hadn't bought anything and allegedly didn't leave the store when asked. Starbucks said

the police never should have been called and has since issued a policy saying its company-operated stores in the

U.S. are open to all visitors , whether or not they make a purchase.

Some employees said they felt Tuesday's training wasn't substantive enough.

"It's just to save face. It doesn't really mean anything," said an African-American Starbucks barista in Connecticut.

He said he has never encountered a racist incident in any of the stores at which he has worked in Connecticut or

Maryland.

A barista in Ohio who is white said he found the training "wishy-washy." He added: "I went in with an open mind. I

was hoping we'd go through scenarios of how customers might feel in certain scenarios and how to make them

not feel that way."

Starbucks says there will be continuing education around diversity and bias , but the company hasn't shared

details of what that will entail.

Mr. Prater, the supervisor in Rancho Cucamonga, said it is admirable of Starbucks to start a dialogue about race

relations but that asking overworked, hourly employees to consider their biases every time they interact with

customers is a tall order.

"The baristas are already doing five or 10 things, including taking out the garbage and cleaning the bathrooms ," he

said. "We're already struggling to provide the bare minimum of customer service, so when you throw in this, how do

we even do this? This is a lot."

Write to Julie Jargon at [email protected] and Rachel Feintzeig at [email protected]

Related

* Starbucks's Big-Bang Approach to Crisis Management

Credit: By Julie Jargon and Rachel Feintzeig DETAILS

Subject: African Americans; Coffeehouses; Employees; Bias

Location: Maryland Connecticut New York United States--US Ohio Rancho Cucamonga

California

Company / organization: Name: Starbucks Corp; NAICS: 722515; Name: Wall Street Journal; NAICS: 511110

Publication title: Wall Street Journal (Online); New York, N.Y.

Pages: n/a

Publication year: 2018

Publication date: May 31, 2018

LINKS Linking Service, Linking Service

Database copyright  2020 ProQuest LLC. All rights reserved. Terms and Conditions Contact ProQuest

Section: Business

Publisher: Dow Jones &Company Inc

Place of publication: New York, N.Y.

Country of publication: United States, New York, N.Y.

Publication subject: Business And Economics

Source type: Newspapers

Language of publication: English

Document type: News

ProQuest document ID: 2047488519

Document URL: https://ezproxysuf.flo.org/login?url=https://search.proquest.com/docview/2047488

519?accountid=28735

Copyright: (c) 2018 Dow Jones &Company, Inc. Reproduced with permission of copyright owner.

Further reproduction or distribution is prohibited without permission.

Last updated: 2018-06-01

Database: ABI/INFORM Collection