photo credit: natty phaocharoen // Shutterstock
Over the weekend, Philadelphia Police were called by Starbucks employees who claimed that two black men were trespassing and refused to leave. The men were simply waiting on a friend, and had not ordered anything, which led to employees calling the cops. Other customers, who can be seen in the video talking to police, said the men were doing nothing wrong.
As the men were being arrested and walked out by police, the associate they were waiting for arrived, who happened to be real estate developer, Andrew Yaffe. The men were still taken into custody. Many viewers are saying that Starbucks is racist. Starbucks has since publicly apologized. And isnt Starbucks like the meeting place of America? Last time I checked, people go there as a meeting place all the time without ordering anything.
We apologize to the two individuals and our customers for what took place at our Philadelphia store on Thursday. pic.twitter.com/suUsytXHks
— Starbucks Coffee (@Starbucks) April 14, 2018
Rapper T.I. says he will not be going to Starbucks anytime soon, adding that the value of the black dollar needs to be felt by these companies, which is the reason behind the hashtag, #boycottStarbucks.
Starbucks isn’t the first major chain to be accused of racial discrimination. In 1994 Denny’s had to pay a $54 million lawsuit and in 2004, Cracker Barrel had to pay $8.7 million lawsuit.
Written by Clarke Jones