Starbucks campaign stirs important conversations


Last week, Starbucks introduced its Race Together campaign, a year-long initiative also led  by USA Today that will promote discussion and action around race in Starbucks stores, open houses and local communities. The campaign began with a highly publicized and controversial portion, in which Starbucks baristas were given the option to write the words “race together” on their customers’ cups to stimulate dialogue about race if the customers wanted. Though that segment ended on March 22, it raises many questions about Starbucks’ plans for the rest of its Race Together campaign, and whether they will have any meaningful impact on race relations in America.

So far, Starbucks has publicly announced that it will host open dialogues between police and community leaders across the country, run several open forums for employees, commit to hiring 10,000 opportunity youth over the next three years and co-produce three more special newspaper sections with USA Today. Of those, the special newspaper supplement sounds like it has the most potential to make an actual impact, as it can introduce a new perspective to a large readership. Starbucks has already co-produced one USA Today supplement that was distributed for free at its stores this weekend. The supplement included a diversity index, which shows the increasing probability that the next person one met would be of a different race; as well as race-related conversation starters and questions, such as “How have your racial views evolved from those of your parents?

That being said, newspaper supplements can only accomplish so much, and it is programs such as those allowing baristas to write “race together” on customers’ cups that truly stir up the public — without that phase of the program, the Race Together campaign wouldn’t have gotten the attention it did, and the many online discussions about how race relations should be addressed certainly wouldn’t have happened.

Opponents of the barista participation point out that a Starbucks shop is the wrong environment to discuss an issue as complex as race. Danielle Henderson of Fusion TV said, “It’s the height of liberal American idealism and a staggering act of hubris to think we can solve our systemic addiction to racism over a Frappucino.” Former NBA star Kareem Abdul-Jabbar likewise noted that Starbucks CEO and Chairman Howard Schultz “picked the wrong venue with the wrong audience using the wrong spokespersons,” though he praised Schultz for having the courage to attack an issue as complex as race in his company.

Whether or not the campaign affected the dialogue on racism isn’t the central issue. What matters is that the event brought national attention to Starbucks’ campaign and allowed Starbucks to plan further events that address the issue of race relations in America. Schultz acknowledged this when he said, “Writing on the cup is a de minimis piece of this issue. And it’s not something that’s going to last long. It was a catalyst to start this.”

Starbucks’ Race Together campaign has gotten off to an interesting start, one that has been as polarizing as it has been publicized. Hopefully, Starbucks has other plans to directly address race in a more effective way and to take advantage of the widespread attention now surrounding Race Together and its cause. In starting this campaign, Starbucks has prepared the public for future social issues campaigns from Starbucks and set an example that other socially responsible companies should definitely follow.