1ClassyLady 68F
3114 posts
3/18/2015 6:59 pm
Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz says #Race Together


Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz is not one to back down about an issue he cares about and Wednesday he staunchly defended the company's much lampooned effort to improve race relations by having baristas write Race Together on coffee cups.

"It's not going to solve racism, but I do believe it is the right thing to do at this time," Schultz told CNN Money's Poppy Harlow Wednesday.

He launched the campaign earlier this week aiming to start a national conversation about race. The response has been mixed, including some harsh backlash on social media. One Starbucks (SBUX) public relations executive temporarily deleted his Twitter account after he was personally attacked.

But Schultz has a reputation for taking controversial stands, including having his staff write "work together" on cups in 2012 during the Congressional "fiscal cliff" drama. He's also spoken out about gun control, gay rights and affordable education.

He said Wednesday that Starbucks is forging ahead with his race campaign. In fact, Schultz spent at least half the time at the company's shareholder meeting Wednesday talking about the push, which he's calling Race Together.

Related: Starbucks exec back on Twitter after #RaceTogether backlash

"Friends of mine and some people at Starbucks felt it wasn't an issue we should engage in and I rejected that," Schultz said.

"If we all continue to be bystanders on something that's dividing the nation, then where is this headed? We are better than this as a country," he said.

Over the past few months Starbucks has held open forums for employees to talk about it. This week, it pushed further, encouraging baristas to start conversations with customers by writing the words "Race Together" on cups.

Related: Starbucks is tackling racism one cup at a time

But not everyone wants to discuss race relations while ordering their morning coffee, nor do they think the coffee line is the right place to have this kind of conversation.

But writing the message on cups is only a small aspect of the campaign, Schultz said.

The big idea, he said, it to act as a catalyst for a conversation that raises understanding, empathy and compassion around the issue.


Starbucks ends part of "Race Together" campaign on Sunday, March 22, 2015. "Racial" topic is just too sensitive and controversial to talk about. We all concern this problem, but we can't talk about it. I know because I once had a blog about same topic and I had to delete it, we all have bias. We have pre-occupied opinions.



Honesty is the best policy.


1ClassyLady 68F
3276 posts
3/19/2015 9:21 pm

We can't choose what parents to born from. So, we can't change skin color, but we can change "Attitude", "Behavior", "Personality", ....through education and understanding.



Honesty is the best policy.


beyondfantasy3 113M
4740 posts
3/19/2015 4:41 am

any efforts to improve race relations is a good effort.
The history in America is filled with lots of madness, abuse, use, greed and conjured dialog about the history of slavery and the race relations.
It is a great many challenges to rid some of white society of the underlying mentality of thinking their white skin makes them better, as well it is a big challenge to enlighten them to limit them from spreading and reverberating any further this mad way of thinking into future generations any delusions of white superiority,. It is a big challenge in American as well as other places around the world. When it comes to race, it is not only about blacks but the many other races who have found and in some case still find underlying racial overtone in and through out their interactive lives.
We still have people who celebrate and seek to promote elements of the Confederate Ideology as it relates to slavery and their underlying refusal to acknowledge the Civil War is over and all that supported the existence of the war should too, be over. Yet its not.

What we don't see is Germany celebrating the Hitler Regime nor supporting the celebrations in any way to endorse or show a post celebratory promotion of the Nazi era.
Why in American, the celebration of the Confederacy, when it was defeated in physical form, but the mental ideology still rages with the Confederate separatist ideology.
In some areas only when its about the exchanges to gain money do some put a temporary silence to their Confederate aspirations, but quickly revert back to it, on a social and ideological level.
Sadly, there is a broad segment which transfers this into the youth culture within their environments.

One need only read the comments in various news stories to see the ongoing racist demeanor which reverberates within commentary, it finds a centering in many of the Right Wing posters who often come to many articles, even when its not related to things of race and make racist commentary, or some anti Obama commentary, followed by some common racial utterances.
Many of such ones functions under the banner of Confabulation, and refuse to deal with truths or facts, outside of what confabulates promote.
Even some schools have attempted to white wash history books and remove the atrocities created and engaged by white society in American history. Even the Students and Teachers rebelled at the attempts to remove the facts from history books.

As MLK said, that some white even when their situations are dire and their kids are hungry, they are being fed the message, that even though they are in dire straits, they can take comfort that their white skin makes them superior. Sadly, many people are led to believe in this type of craziness.
It will take a great effort across this nation and may taken much time to awaken those of racist ideology, to learn more of humane regard for the dignity and lives of others, and respect that human equality of individual is to be respected, universally.


1ClassyLady 68F
3276 posts
3/19/2015 2:20 am

Are you drunk? laogui.



Honesty is the best policy.


1ClassyLady 68F
3276 posts
3/18/2015 8:28 pm

Question is "How to calm down the racial tension?" in USA. (not in Australia)



Honesty is the best policy.


1ClassyLady 68F
3276 posts
3/18/2015 8:09 pm

I think there are Starbucks in Cairns, Queensland state of Australia too. A lot of American traveled to Australia and NZ, they drink Starbucks coffee. I saw many Starbucks in Beijing and Shanghai, China, and Zurich, Switzerland.

Of course, if Starbucks closed down in Australia, Americans will go to McDonald for coffee and hamburgers.

I am omnivorous. I ate kangaroo, crocodile, Tim Tam cookies, ... in Australia and lamb cutlets and Tip Top ice cream in New Zealand. I ate pork stomach in China, chocolate in Swiss. However, I can't drink "Milk" or "Coffee", I like them but I can't have them.



Honesty is the best policy.


1ClassyLady 68F
3276 posts
3/18/2015 7:27 pm

    Quoting  :

laogui:

I think I saw Starbucks in Sydney, Australia while I was there 4 nights. Near Queen Victoria shopping mall on George Street.

I don't drink coffee (unless decaffeinated), but my banker friend has to drink coffee every morning. He is a typical American, drinking "Black coffee", no sugar, no cream.



Honesty is the best policy.


1ClassyLady 68F
3276 posts
3/18/2015 7:21 pm

I had a similar topic posted here "Racial tension escalates in USA" before. This topic is so sensitive and controversial that cause a lot of different "bias" opinions that I had to deleted it. The high volume of viewers in a short time scared me.

This time I post Starbucks CEO opinion, but mine. He is a Caucasian. I am NOT WHITE or BLACK, I am Yellow.



Honesty is the best policy.