PHILADELPHIA _ Tens of thousands of Starbucks employees around the country will be spending their afternoon in racial-bias training Tuesday, an event stemming from the arrests of two black men at a Philadelphia location last month.
The Seattle-based coffee chain announced shortly after the April 12 incident that it would close its more than 8,000 U.S. stores May 29 while nearly 175,000 employees undergo training "geared toward preventing discrimination in our stores."
A manager at the Starbucks at 18th and Spruce Streets in Center City called police after Rashon Nelson and Donte Robinson, both 23, waited in the store for a business meeting but did not make any purchases. Nelson also asked to use the bathroom but was denied access. The arrests, captured on video and widely spread across social media, sparked national outrage and continued conversation on racial inequality. The company and police responded with apologies, while Nelson and Robinson reached separate agreements with Starbucks and the city.
There are still questions regarding what Tuesday's training will look like, but a recent preview from the company shed some light. Here's why Starbucks stores will be closed Tuesday afternoon and what we know about the training.
Why is Starbucks having racial-bias training?
The arrests prompted many to ask if the manager would have contacted police if Nelson and Robinson were white. The racial-bias education aims "to ensure everyone inside a Starbucks store feels safe and welcome," the company said in a news release last month.
During a speaking appearance in which he elaborated on a more-inclusive bathroom policy, Starbucks' executive chairman Howard Schultz said the company was undergoing a "transformation."
"That curriculum and that education is the beginning, not the end, of an entire transformation of our training at Starbucks, which, in addition to everything we do operationally, will stay inside the company," Schultz said.
What will the training look like?
While the media will not be granted access to any of Tuesday's training sessions, the company gave a brief preview last week of what they will involve. In addition to watching a film by Stanley Nelson, a director who has often focused on black history and experiences, employees will explore how bias shows up in their lives, according to a video from the company.
"We're here to make Starbucks a place where everyone, everyone feels welcome," CEO Kevin Johnson says in the video.
Bryan Stevenson, founder and executive director of the Equal Justice Initiative; Sherrilyn Ifill, president and director-counsel of the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund; and Heather McGhee, president of the think tank Demos, have played a role in developing the curriculum.
The company said it also plans to share its training materials with other businesses.
What are experts saying about it?
University of Pennsylvania professor Howard Stevenson (whose brother is Bryan Stevenson), who teaches people how to handle racially charged encounters told the Inquirer and Daily News last month that the training needs to extend beyond just one afternoon. He also said the training should include role-playing exercises and open discussion about employees' personal experiences.
"It gets emotional sometimes," Howard Stevenson said. "Some people will remember stories that they had forgotten."
Americus Reed, professor of marketing at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, called the training "remarkable" in a previous interview with the Inquirer and Daily News.
What else is happening?
Amalgam Comics & Coffeehouse in Kensington will host a #coffeewhileblack roundtable discussion at 9 a.m. Tuesday.
The event's goal is to bring "attention to the larger implications of what happened at Starbucks, (promote) the importance of inclusive and fair business models as a way to advance racial justice, and (encourage) people in Philadelphia and on social media to support Black-owned alternatives to Starbucks," according to a news release.
A tour of black-owned coffee shops in Philadelphia, including Uncles Bobbie's Coffee & Books, Little Jimmie's Bake House and Cafe, and Franny Lou's Porch, will follow.
