Starbucks drops Jewish group from bias training

[EffieBlack]

9. This is another example of how discrimination against minorities gets sucked into a vortex

As far as I know, Starbucks doesn't have a problem with discrimination against Jewish customers. This is a problem very specific to black and brown people. So, I didn't understand why the ADL was brought in in the first place. And I totally get the consternation of those who objected to them being engaged since I have no doubt that, if the shoe were on the other foot and the store had a rash of antisemitic incidents, but didn't seem to have any issues with racism against minorities, people would think it strange if the NAACP Legal Defense Fund or Black Lives Matter were brought in to address them. This had a co-opting feel that made me a little uncomfortable.

It's also an example of how discrimination against minorities is all-too-often treated very differently than other wrongful behavior in our society. In just about any other instance, when employees behave badly or in an unacceptable manner, their employers don't spend a lot of time and effort trying to discuss or retrain or have encounter sessions, etc. They just forbid the bad behavior, impose a zero tolerance policy and move on.

I've often worked in situations where the minority employees point out a pattern of discrimination and the employer's response is to reach out to the black folk to have "dialogue." And I always think, "Why are you reaching out to US? WE'RE not the problem. You need to reach out to the white managers who are behaving in such an effed up manner and tell them to straighten up or get out."

If Starbucks had a manager who repeatedly hit employees, I doubt the company would spend much time and resources working with them on their anger management issues, have the people they beat up come and "share" with them how getting their asses whupped felt, and allow the manager to give "the other side of the story." They would just tell the manager to stop beating people up and if he didn't, they'd fire his angry ass.

I'm not criticizing Starbucks for doing this session - I think they're really trying to do the right thing. But I think we need to consider how we address racism in this country - and hold the people who engage in it to stricter standards and consequences. It can also be helpful as part of this, to show the universality of discrimination. But shoehorning other issues into this one suggests to those of us who must endure it and are asking for it to be addressed that our concerns just aren't important enough to taken seriously on their own, but must be piggy-backed onto someone else's problems in order to have any credibility.