Country’s racial divide brews over in Starbucks

T here is a dry cleaning store nearby that also is under the same ownership as the laundromat next door. On the laundromat window hangs a sign that reads, “Restrooms are for customers only.”

We have seen the signs before. Restaurants along the annual Mummers Day Parade route. Spots at the Jersey Shore. The mindset of shopkeepers is understandable. They aren’t a public bath house.

But the opposite side of the coin also is understandable. People who spend a lot of time traveling the highways of America are keenly aware of where they can make a comfortable pit stop. Wawa stores are a favorite. Farther west in the state, Sheetz is the choice. McDonald’s usually is a good option.

Quick pit stop, grab a cup of coffee. Maybe a bottle of water. Then back on the highway.

South of the Mason-Dixon Line, roadside gas stations are never a good option. Plumbing is still too high-tech.

Obviously, Starbucks cafes in the middle of big cities are not a good option either.

Before throwing all Starbucks stores under the bus, due to the recent flap over the arrest of two black men who refused to leave a Center City Philadelphia location, a trend should be noted. For security reasons, many public restrooms in city locations are either locked or equipped with an entry code. Drug trafficking and the ever-increasing homeless situation have forced this to be a more common practice.

These are all real issues … but they should never escalate to the point we have witnessed with the Philly Starbucks story. Seriously, a nationwide chain of stores has to close for half of a day because a store manager and two non-paying visitors couldn’t work out an amicable agreement without involving the police?

This is a result of the incredible racial divide that has developed in this country.

Normally, wouldn’t the two men, who claimed they were waiting for a friend, buy a cup of coffee before occupying one of the few seats that usually exist in Starbucks? To do otherwise is confrontational.

And wouldn’t a store manager, trained in dealing with the public, resort to some reasonable means of handling the situation … rather than calling the police on two people who were not causing a major disturbance? Not in America, circa 2018. We are a nation divided. The divide escalated quickly

with the rhetoric of the Barack Obama administration. And it has continued during the Donald Trump administration.

Before jumping to conclusions, don’t think that either president is being blamed completely for causing the racial divide. We’ll leave that debate to those who engage daily in bitter partisan bickering. But there can be no debate about the fact that neither Obama nor Trump have done much to bridge the gap.

History shows that the roots of the problem are older and go much deeper than the last decade.

But when those history books are written, you will not see the term “Great Unifier” placed next to the photo of either Obama or Trump.

And that is the underlying shame. We elect public officials to solve problems. We look to them for leadership … to forge the way out of the daily problems that plague our country and our society.

Too often we have been disappointed.

The only hope is that cooler heads finally prevail. Somebody has to rise above this foaming torrent of rage and reinforce that America is a melting pot of people – working together for a common goal. America never needed a “savior” more than it does now.

But today’s political climate might make it impossible for a “savior” to emerge.

Lawn signs in many neighborhoods proclaim, “Hate has no home here.” There may not be an emptier slogan. Right now, it seems as if hate is everywhere.

You can’t even relax and get a cup of coffee without seeing the two-way torrent of hate.

Tony Leodora is president of TL Golf Services, host of the weekly Golf Talk Live radio show on WNTP 990-AM and host of the Traveling Golfer television show — as well as editor of Golf Styles magazine. He is former sports editor of The Times Herald. Send comments to tlgolfservices@aol.com.