Starbucks Under Fire Again for 'Beaner' Label
Is this a case of blatant racism or bad hearing?
Either way, it’s proven to be another public relations disaster for Starbucks.
A month after an incident came under intense national scrutiny for an incident at a Philadelphia Starbucks in which two black men were arrested for waiting in a store for a friend but not placing an order, more allegations of racism against the popular coffee chain have surfaced after an incident Tuesday at a store in Southern California.
A Latino man named Pedro says he placed an order for two coffees. He says told the clerk his name was Peter when he placed his order, but when he picked up his coffee, the name on his order label was “Beaner,” a slang term considered racist by those in the Latino community.
Pedro, who asked his last name not be used, said he was “really sad” to see the slur on his label.
He claims that when he told a manager about the incident, he was offered a $50 gift card and an apology.
“I didn’t accept it because it’s like an insult overall,” he told KNBC-TV in Los Angeles.
News of the incident went viral when Pedro’s co-workers at a Mexican restaurant posted photos of the label on social media.
https://twitter.com/priscillaah2422/status/996473741197459456
Pedro told KNBC that is expecting to meet with one of the location’s employees on Thursday and although he is unsure of what will come of the interaction, he hopes the barista will face serious consequences.
In a statement, the coffee chain said it is working to remedy the incident.
“This is not the experience that we want for our clients,” the statement said. “We asked for his forgiveness and we are working to correct this. Also, we are investigating the incident to ensure this will not be repeated.”
But some social media users wonder if the alleged racist incident was nothing more than an employee misunderstanding a customer.
Is this a joke? Starbucks constantly gets names wrong… Peter could sound like Beaner? I got Sherly once… I’m Shelley. Let’s not always assume the worst?
— Shelley Haynes Heile (@SHHeile) May 17, 2018
“Peter” and”Beaner” sound a helluva lot more alike than Yanny and Laurel.
— l (@kikilani) May 17, 2018
The incident in California comes just weeks before Starbucks had planned to close all of its stores for part of a day to hold sensitivity training in the wake of last month’s incident in Philadelphia.
Truth and Accuracy
We are committed to truth and accuracy in all of our journalism. Read our editorial standards.
