In wake of two men being arrested for sitting in Starbucks while black, the coffee chain has been under attack by civil rights activists and advocates. However, now that Starbucks is appearing to take some public strides to ensure, white supremacists are flocking to the company's social media accounts to troll. Starbucks is now answering back.
"All this is a ploy to get media coverage and get them off their back. Why the HELL [sic] should Starbucks shut down for an entire day over the stupidity and ignorance of a couple people in one of their stores?" posted Kevin Malone on the Facebook page.
"Because systemic racism and bias is bigger than one partner, one store or one company. We are shutting our stories for this training because we recognize that we have the responsibility to be part of the solution," Starbucks posted in their response, referencing the close of 8,000 stores for a racial sensitivity training.
Many white Starbucks patrons were irate about missing out on their corporate caffeine.
Joshua Mitchell witnessed individuals commenting on the incident and called them out for their ignorance and privilege.
"If you're a white person in this thread complaining to the world that you can't purchase Starbucks for one day, you are basically stating that your coffee for one 24 hour period is more important than a company's efforts to eliminate racial bias in its stores. The level of selfishness in these comments is appalling," he posted.
"Starbucks is where my son goes to study and can be there for hours. I don't know complete details and not commenting on the issue in PA but here in NJ you are not asked to leave. Unless you don't know how to act in public," said Marybeth Anderson Robbins.
The company responded by saying that there was no reason that police should have been called and the men should not have been arrested.
"We want everyone to feel as comfortable and welcome in our stores as your son, which is why we are committed to this training," they replied in the post.
Facebook user Brice Painter claimed the company for "caving to a few whiners" He told the company to stand their ground "and let the paying customers have their coffee on May 29th. In these times everything offends somebody."
Starbucks responded to the comment by saying that it isn't about being offended. "This is about working to correct our flawed and vague policy. The police should never have been called in this situation and we are working to make the necessary changes."
You can see a few screen captures of the comments below by Iris Muscarella:
