Tag Archives: race together

blog, diversity, Filipino, journalism, news, race

Emil Guillermo: Second thoughts on Starbucks’ #racetogether while I’m drinking my Peet’s coffee

March 24, 2015 Amok

peets

OK, OK. I am joining the coffee grumps. Coffee, black, no race convo.

I read the Starbucks insert in USA TODAY this past weekend, and frankly, I’m astonished.

Race together? It’s pretty much the same two lanes: black and white.

In an eight-page insert, the first mention of Asian Americans is on page 5.

In one of 8 questions, there’s this question: “Asians recently surpassed Latinos as the fastest growing group of new immigrants to the United States.” TRUE or FALSE.

The answer is: TRUE.

“Asians recently surpassed Latinos as the fastest growing group of new immigrants to the United States.”

Asians are mentioned in the timeline titled, “Path to Progress.”

But as I point out in my column on the aaldef.org/blog, there are some glaring omissions.

Pass the Peet’s. And see my new column on the aaldef.org/blog.

CHECK OUT THE NEW HOME FOR THE AMOK COLUMN: www.aaldef.org/blog

LIKE and FOLLOW us on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/emilguillermo.media

And FOLLOW my latest tweets on Twitter http://www.twitter.com/emilamok

Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund (AALDEF) blog, blog, news, politics, race

Emil Guillermo: Earnest Starbucks gives in to race bullies and no longer encourages baristas to write #racetogether on cups.

March 22, 2015 Amok

I was hoping CEO Howard Schultz would stick to his ideals and stay the course. But I guess, when you’re a corporate enterprise, you can’t go 100 percent on principle if it means you could lose profits by doing the right thing. Ultimately, it’s about shareholder value, and I’m sure Schultz heard from some who weren’t crazy about the idea.

Reports say Starbucks isn’t giving up the initiative. They’re just telling baristas not to use the hashtag #racetogether on cups.

I know they say they had planned to phase out the writing on the cups. But they would have kept it going if it didn’t blow up in their faces.

Still, they’re not throwing out the baby with yesterday’s old coffee water. They’re moving forward.

I said previously how much I liked the idea.

Small talk actually can lead to better relations. Too often racial hurt comes from micro-aggressions that people of color experience. Positive small talk simply can make people in general more aware of their words.

But I’m in the minority here.

Starbucks says it’s not giving up.

Maybe #Racetogether 2.0 will simply be more of what the company had been doing successfully–public forums for employees and corporate partners who opt-in.

Preaching to the choir always works.

That’s the sad thing about this experiment. It shows us exactly where we are racially in this country. With our sensitivity levels at new heights, everything is capable of being misunderstood when it comes to race.

Starbucks has learned you can even be dissed for earnestness when no one really wants to make the effort to have the tiny conversations we need.