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Are you bothered by the thought that an 8,000 location retail chain finds the need to padlock its doors on a weekday afternoon to, according to the Starbucks Newsroom, “conduct racial-bias education geared toward preventing discrimination in our stores?”
This isn’t about Starbucks at all; it’s something far more important and deeply troubling.
Fewer than 24 hours after we observed Memorial Day honoring American military heroes who died fighting for “a country committed to the proposition that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness…” we need to educate about prejudice and bias.
It’s a sad fact that in the 21st Century there’s a need to teach adherence to the Constitution of the United States of America.
But it’s really about more than that. If we’re honest, we who truly love our country feel free to acknowledge our history is far from honorable. Our country’s past is bloody and troubled. Though we’ve made progress we still have a long way to go. Those of us who care acknowledge we need to do better.
Let’s be honest: When in the history of our country were all men and women treated as equal?
It wasn’t until 1954 that Brown V. Board of Education ruled that racial segregation was illegal, paving the way for improvement in education. Today, there are still huge discrepancies in educational opportunity based on race, economics, and a variety of societal ills.
In 2015, the USDA estimated there are 13.1 million children in food-insecure households, as reported by CNN. Hungry children don’t tend to do well in school. When they don’t graduate, the cycle of poverty continues.
It wasn’t until 1920 that women got the right to vote. In 2018, “a woman earns 80.5 cents for every dollar a man earns…”
Way back in 2003, the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights issued a 120-page report entitled “A Quiet Crisis. Federal Funding and Unmet Needs in Indian Country.” What substantial changes have occurred since then?
Is it positive that Starbucks is making a social and political statement? Sure. Though one might attribute their motives to allaying recent bad press over unconscionable behavior towards two American citizens—human beings.
I mentioned earlier it’s not really about Starbucks. It is about who we are and what we want to be as a nation. It goes well beyond race. I found Starbucks proposed training announcement troubling. It’s stated objective is far too narrow.
This isn’t simply about black and white but rather how we treat all human beings. This past year has seen an incredible awakening of awareness about sexism, violence, and prejudice of all sorts.
We are at a watershed moment in the history of our country. One the one hand we are seeing groups of people empowered and clamoring for action. On the other, our political leaders on the right are working overtime to set an ultra-conservative agenda that will set our country back decades. They are breeding discontent, fear, and intolerance. It’s inexcusable and un-American.
As someone who worked as a contractor for the Trump Organization in the 1990s and met and spoke with Donald Trump, I wish I’d whispered in his ear:
Hey, big guy, someday you’ll be President. You’ll have a chance to unite our nation and lead us to greatness. Don’t screw it up. Don’t incite bigotry, hatred, and fear of the differences between individuals. Use the great power of your bully pulpit to bring us together. Make America Great by assuring equality in the treatment of all our fellow citizens and those who aspire to become a part of our great melting pot.
Here’s the takeaway.
Of course, racial-bias training is a good thing. Education always reaps benefits.
But a better thing would be if everyone liberal and conservative would take a step back and ask themselves, “Am I treating others the way I’d like them to treat me? Perhaps this sounds trite and simplistic. That’s O.K. Why not give it a try?
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Related:
Why Two Black Men Were Arrested at a Philadelphia Starbucks
What to Do When You’re a Low-Key Racist and Want to Change
To the White Anti-Racists Who are Nervous About Stepping Up Against Racism
Philadelphia Police Commissioner Gives Statement on Starbucks That Stinks of Trash
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