Complicated

The Post has a nice summary of the issues involved in the "Starbucks issue."  The obvious first issue is conscious and unconscious biases against African Americans.  This is part of what Ta-Nehisi Coates was talking about when he spoke about how African Americans are not welcome in all parts of America.

This is about the "N-Word" but it begins with the premise that white people just know that everywhere welcomes them; that they own the public spaces of this country.  Black people don't have that internal knowledge.  I really recommend spending five minutes with this video.

The Post article goes on to address other issues about the right of a private business to curtail loitering on their premises.  You don't have a "right" to hang out at a table without ordering or a right to use the restroom without buying something.  The fact that this rule is bent for whites and not for blacks is where the problem exists.  As the Barnes and Nobles manager says, it comes down to behavior.  If you're reading a book, you're welcome to stay.  If you're yelling and carrying on, you're not.  What happens too often is that African Americans - especially young men - have their behavior scrutinized in levels disproportionate to their behavior.  That certainly seems to be what happened at Starbucks.  Those are the unconscious biases at work.

I saw a tweet from Deray McKesson criticizing Starbucks for thinking they can solve this issue with an afternoon training session.  While McKesson is largely correct, I worry that setting an impossible standard - "Why can't Starbucks solve racism?" - will blunt efforts, even small ones, to make things better.  Once again making the perfect the enemy of the good.

Criticism and punishment can stop bad behaviors.  Starbucks fired that manager.  But only praise and reward can create good behaviors.  People seek out rewards, and once they internalize that, you don't have to "police it."  I would've hoped that McKesson would have offered whatever help his considerable voice would have in making sure the training sessions were valuable.  Criticism is easy and can make you feel good, but change is hard and slow and frustrating.  If Starbucks undertakes this training and gets slammed for it being insufficient, why would they follow up?  Why would they take another step?  Why would they thing doing the next thing would make a difference?

If the goal is to change the behavior, scolding someone for not doing it exactly right won't change the behavior.