If you went to any Starbucks this past week, you might have noticed that your barista wrote “Race Together” on the side of your coffee cup. Turns out that this was all part of an initiative with USA Today, but many complained about it. So, Starbucks will not have its baristas write the phrase any longer.
“Race Together” was supposed to highlight racial inequality, but many on social media thought it was just an opportunistic move by a corporate entity to cash-in on serious current events. Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz said in a memo Sunday that the writing part of the initiative was stopped on Sunday as “originally planned.”
However, he did try to stress that this was “just the catalyst for a much broader and longer term conversation.” Indeed, Starbucks will continue co-producing special “Race Together” sections with USA Today.
“While there has been criticism of the initiative -- and I know this hasn't been easy for any of you -- let me assure you that we didn’t expect universal praise,” Schultz wrote. “The heart of Race Together has always been about humanity: the promise of the American Dream should be available to every person in this country, not just a select few.”
After the initiative was announced, Colorlines pointed out that only three of Starbucks’ 19 executives are people of color. The site also noted that 40 percent of its employees are people of color.