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Howard Schultz on Civil Rights
Starbucks CEO; independent candidate for President
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Race Together: conversation on race with all Starbucks staff
Howard Schultz is leaving Starbucks at a tumultuous moment in Starbucks' history. The company drew protests in April after two black men were arrested while they were waiting inside a Philadelphia store. Starbucks closed 8,000 stores for an afternoon
last week to teach employees about racial bias."We realize that four hours of training is not going to solve racial inequity in America," Schultz told CNN last week. But he said, "We need to have the conversation. We need to start."
Schultz has addressed race before. After the police shooting death of an unarmed black man in Ferguson, Missouri, in 2014, Starbucks asked baristas to write "Race Together" on coffee cups in hopes
of starting conversations. "It's not going to solve racism, but I do believe it is the right thing to do at this time," Schultz said at the time.
Source: CBS Boston on 2020 presidential hopefuls
, Jun 4, 2018
Better race relations starts with conversation
Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz is encouraging the company's 191,000 employees to talk about race in America and other issues raised by police killings of unarmed black men in Ferguson MO and New York City. "The last few weeks, I have felt a burden of
personal responsibility," Schultz told the crowd. "Not about the company, but about what's going on in America." He was referring to protests that have spread since grand juries failed to indict white police officers in the [two recent] killings.
Schultz [penned a] letter afterwards, entitled, "It Starts With Conversation":"Many shared personal experiences & offered ideas about how to move the conversation, our company & our country forward. People spoke with such conviction and vulnerability.
Everyone demonstrated compassion and personal courage. The Forum was at times uncomfortable, yet overall it was enlightening. It provided many of us, myself included, with a deeper understanding around issues of race and the realities facing our country.
Source: Huffington Post, "Starbucks and Race"
, Dec 17, 2014
Support AIDS programs and employee AIDS walks
Community events and sponsorships became an ongoing part of our marketing work, in part to build awareness but also because we believe it's the right thing to do. In addition to our support of CARE, we try to be sensitive to local issues, with our main
emphasis on supporting AIDS programs; children's causes, especially children's hospitals; the environment (clean water); and the arts. For the past several years, 300 to 400 Starbucks partners and customers have marched in Seattle's annual AIDS walk.
Source: Pour Your Heart Into It, by Howard Schultz, p.255-256
, Jan 6, 1999
Page last updated: Mar 15, 2019