I must be totally bias free by now!

Interesting excerpt:

and people complain; you do something about it and people still complain. I give them a lot of credit for trying. This is a reply to the OP and not you—I hit the wrong reply button (It’s late).

brouhaha a couple of years ago I saw so many white employees working in a Black (Ferguson) area including but not limited to the police....I see that here in Youngstown Ohio...which is very diversified unless you go in restaurants and businesses....white workers from outside the area are employed in these businesses...so kudos to Starbucks.

And if course people say it's too late and it's not enough. Of course it's not. But it's something!!! Who else is doing something? A company that big? A company that was always in the buy blue lists because they contributed to Dems. Jesus h Christ...give them a fucking break.

Has diversity training.

retired in 15 not that long ago...Starbucks has done good thing but of course never good enough for some. This company is what we support in general...tuition reimbursement, decent wage, health insurance....but of course we need to destroy them because they are not perfect...don't get that.

Our country has a longstanding serious racism problem. At least Starbucks has made a start, which is more than Nordstrom & other companies have done. How will cynicism help anyone?

to deal with racism are standing in the way of progress...the old give me everything immediately or I want nothing. It doesn't work that way not for single payer in 2009 and not for ending racism...We have to keep working to end this horror and not condemn those who are trying just as you said. This battle won't end soon, but it must be fought and supported not criticized. I am white but my future grandchildren will be half White and half Black as my daughter is engaged to a lovely young man of color. No one wants racism wiped out more than I do for the sake of my family and others, but it will take time and work. Thanks Starbucks for what you are trying to do.

like the bathroom access rules, non customers hanging out rules etc. individuals are tougher to regulate. and the tip jar needs to be stuck to the counter so it cannot be grabbed and moved. tip jar stealing is a thing practiced by individuals in many groups.

That site really is just silly.

They are doing something rather than nothing.

works for starbucks and they were very thorough...it was a good conversation...don't get why some feel the need to bash a company that is a decent company (tuition aid and health insurance within the month) and trying to do the right thing...why even post this?

My main reason for posting this was because I found it interesting to get the point of view about this training from a writer at The Root, which tends to provide a non-white perspective on these issues that sometimes doesn't get as much consideration.

This piece, plus that excerpt from the employees in Ferguson that I posted, provide some food for thought, if nothing else.

is doing...food for thought. How is this food for thought? As I pointed out, the Ferguson Starbucks ulike many Ferguson businesses employs people of color...now that is food for thought.

I just thought it was interesting hearing what those employees had to say. Made me think that maybe the training should be different from store to store rather than every store getting the same presentation? I don't know.

She said it was a paid nap and a chance to catch up on instagram.

and who had taken the training, he got a couple calls from managers only. But then some parents/friends of employees also called to note that at many locations (perhaps all), the employees were told not to discuss their training. The managers were apparently given the go-ahead however, so they could (and did) include the expected talking points.

This is just the start of what will hopefully be a continual (usually annual) training. And if anything, there needs to be specific training that targets the store managers because their roles are different from the employees. This might be on their plates for the future but this particular training ended up being thrown together rather quickly due to the obvious circumstances of damage control.

As a fed (now retired) and supervisor for a number of years, I had quite a bit of supervisor/manager training that included discussion of the various laws that impact employees, and these store "managers" are in a unique position of "power" to make or break a store.

...now every Starbucks employee has been put on notice. There will be no racial bias behavior by any employee OR manager and all are encouraged to report. See something say something. I would love to see other businesses follow this protocol.

That would certainly be great. The Root writer seems a little dubious about that though.