Wednesday, April 25, 2018

Would you Like Some Racism in your Coffee?


            One story making headlines this April is the story of Donte Robinson and Rashon Nelson, two African American men arrested in a Starbucks.[1] The men arrived at the Starbucks for a business meeting, and, “were handcuffed within minutes of entering the store.”[2] The men were not doing anything suspicious and therefore gave no reason to be arrested, and yet they were paraded out of the store only minutes after arriving. In the wake of this bizarre arrest there has been national outrage. No charges have been pressed, due to a lack of evidence, and the company, “apologized on Twitter Saturday afternoon. Later that day, while the hashtag #BoycottStarbucks was trending on Twitter, Kevin R. Johnson, the chief executive of Starbucks, released a statement in which he called the situation a “reprehensible outcome.”[3]
            The incident left many wondering why the men were arrested in the first place. A man that they were meeting at Starbucks asked, ““What did they get called for?” asks… Andrew Yaffe, who is white, referring to the police. “Because there are two black guys sitting here meeting me?”[4] While Yaffe’s statement may seem dramatic, it reflects what many people feel about the situation. Nationally people are feeling as though this episode proved, once again, that simply being a black body occupying space can get you arrested, and in some cases killed. Even Robinson and Nelson, the men arrested thought, “‘they can't be here for us…It didn't really hit me what was going on, that it was real, till I was being double-locked with my hands behind my back.’”[5] To be a black man in America is to be a hunted man – and that can’t possibly “hit you” until you’re faced with the reality of your situation: in this case being handcuffed in the middle of a Starbucks. Because as white people were are almost always, if not always, the “hunters” it makes it impossible to truly understand what living in America feels like for black men and women. Therefore it is crucial that white people recognize the reality that black men and women wake up and live through each day – while we may not understand their reality, in recognizing that black Americans face different struggles on a daily basis white people can be more effective allies.





[1] “Men Arrested At Philadelphia Starbucks Speak Out; Police Commissioner Apologizes,” NPR.org, accessed April 25, 2018, https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2018/04/19/603917872/they-can-t-be-here-for-us-men-arrested-at-philadelphia-starbucks-speak-out.
[2] Nathaniel Meyersohn, “Men Say They Were Arrested within Minutes after Arriving at Philadelphia Starbucks,” CNNMoney, April 19, 2018, http://money.cnn.com/2018/04/19/news/companies/starbucks-arrests-philadelphia/index.html.
[3] Matt Stevens, “Starbucks C.E.O. Apologizes After Arrests of 2 Black Men,” The New York Times, April 15, 2018, sec. U.S., https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/15/us/starbucks-philadelphia-black-men-arrest.html.
[4] Meyersohn, “Men Say They Were Arrested within Minutes after Arriving at Philadelphia Starbucks,” April 19, 2018.
[5] Ibid.

6 comments:

  1. I saw this video a few weeks ago and I was so confused for the arrest. I remember the police officers saying that the bathroom is for paying customers only. Ok, how many of us have used the restroom before we got food at any place. It is one thing to tell a person that they need to buy something before they use the restroom, but calling the police for that is absurd. Also, I think it means a lot that it was at a Starbucks. In my opinion one of the most white restaurants. I have been sitting at Startbucks for at least 5 hours and I have never had an issue. This is just a clear examply the black people are targetted, especially when they are in "white spaces".

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  2. I think your last paragraph brings up an interesting point. As much as I've learned about race and segregation and the racial inequality that exists in America, especially in this class, I still have no earthly idea of what it means to actually be an African American individual. No text or lecture will ever let me understand and internalize what it means to be in a society built by and for the white man. As a white woman, I will face the struggles of being a woman in a man's world, but I will never understand the fear of arrest and unequal treatment in certain places, and thats crazy to me. Even reading this post, one of my first thoughts was that there must be more to the story. Maybe, just maybe, I was hoping that the two men had actually done something wrong to be arrested. I realized that I only see this incident from the lens of a white woman that has never had to deal with this unfair treatment, and it takes me stepping back and thinking about the lens I grew up with.


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  3. When I saw this the only thing I thought was, "could have been worse". I was with one of my friends after school. He skipped football practice and was on his way home. A police pulled over in front of him, got out of the car, handcuffed him, and stuffed him into the back of the police car because a white cop was looking for a "black suspect". He was taken to the county's office and did not get home until 5 pm and all the cops did was apologize. I'm guessing the Starbucks incident was on video. If so, that's my point and that is the difference.

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  4. The way in which this post is written is beyond impressive. Bringing up the idea that "being a Black man in America is being a hunted man" is something that I have also said since the death of Trayvon Martin in conversations. The threat of police officers is something that has become real to not only me, but my Black friends as well. I would have to argue against the previous comment, because I believe that though this issue "could have been worse," there is no reason that it should have happened in the first place. I would also like to point out, that while you are a Black male, you are also statistically at risk for encountering the same exact situation as the two men discussed in the post. I know you are aware of this, but I think that if I were in your position, I would try and place myself in the situation discussed, in order to understand how we, as outsiders, might belittle the shock that would be experienced by the victims, since it is in fact, not us. Back on the track of the post, I agree with the vitality of recognizing issues between the police and Black men in any circumstance. It is important to analyze all issues, and not just the ones that end in death. Each time a Black male is arrested for appearing suspicious, he is closer to becoming another body count for another white officer. Great post.

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  5. I think your last paragraph really expresses the reality of the situation at hand. I was pulled over the other day, and after that I was thinking about how I acted with the officer. When he pulled me over, I got out my license, but forgot to get my insurance card out. When he walked up to my window, I immediately reached for my glove department to get my car with him standing right there. The situation was nothing was said or done as I could have been reaching for anything, but he did not see me as a threat. Taking a step back and reflecting, it was important for me to take note that what I did was an unconscious action, and that alone shows that I will never understand what it is like to be a black individual under this oppression. One of the saddest parts for me was that when I read this story, it was not even a shock that this happened. Everyone was wondering why this was happening because no one wants to realize that incidents like this happen all across the nation. It just shows how many people live their lives enabling racism without even realizing it.

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