![\"Starbucks](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/r9f.352.myftpupload.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/Starbucks-Race-Together.jpg\" "\\"Source:")
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Clueless. Condescending. Clumsy.<\/p>\n
These are some of the kinder things that have been said of Starbucks\u2019 attempt to start a conversation about race<\/a> by having baristas write \u201cRace Together\u201d on coffee cups.<\/p>\n Not since healthcare.gov has there been a more disastrous rollout. At least this ill-fated campaign was a goldmine for comedy<\/a>.<\/p>\n Starbucks has long been the object of derision. Years ago I saw a bumper sticker that read, \u201cFriends don\u2019t let friends drink Starbucks.\u201d<\/p>\n I must confess a guilty secret: I rather like Starbucks. Although I get my daily latte at the kind of local caf\u00e9 that might champion those bumper stickers, I don\u2019t mind going into the belly of the beast. For one thing, I like my lattes milky. I never have to specify \u201cextra hot,\u201d since their baristas seem to know there is nothing worse than having to suck down a latte in one slurp before all the heat drains away.\u00a0 Plus, Starbucks pays its employees a semi-decent wage, offers healthcare coverage to part-timers<\/a>, and started an education initiative to help pay for college tuition. All of this is a drop in the bucket in redressing an economic system that is way out of whack, but still, it\u2019s a start.<\/p>\n So even though I understand the enraged and mocking response to Race Together, I give CEO Howard Schultz credit for trying.<\/p>\n I\u2019m actually a big fan of clumsy efforts to talk about race. As a poster child for white privilege, I have inadvertently made many mistakes and committed many microaggressions. It is tempting to remain silent to avoid chastisement or embarrassment for saying the wrong thing. \u00a0But I am trying to shed my cloak of oblivion and silence. So I appreciate pioneers of clumsiness.<\/p>\n A few months ago I wrote<\/a> about the furor that erupted last fall when Daniel Handler, aka Lemony Snicket, made a racially insensitive \u201cjoke\u201d at the National Book Awards.<\/p>\n In a recent interview on KQED\u2019s Forum<\/a>, Handler was asked about the incident, and replied that he didn\u2019t mind being \u201cthe idiot . . . or the clumsy person in the room.\u201d Handler continued, \u201cThe subject of race in America\u2014that\u2019s something you have to take on. I would rather make mistakes . . . than decide that I\u2019ll just erase it entirely as race has just been erased entirely from so many conversations. . . . If I can be any kind of example that can lead to conversation and insight, . . . that\u2019s more than worth making a fool out of myself.\u201d<\/p>\n I appreciate this, just as I appreciate Howard Schultz. Maybe he\u2019s a mix of cynical corporate capitalist, insensitive person of privilege, and well-intentioned fool. But he did start a conversation.<\/p>\n Besides, as one Facebook commenter put it<\/a>: \u201cNothing unites people like a shared joke. In this, Race Together is a success.\u201d<\/p>\n *<\/p>\n Join the conversation about Starbucks and conversations about race!<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Clueless. Condescending. Clumsy. These are some of the kinder things that have been said of Starbucks\u2019 attempt to start a conversation about race by having baristas write \u201cRace Together\u201d on coffee cups. Not since healthcare.gov has there been a … Continue reading