$1 COFFEE DEAL
2 settle in Philly race arrests
The two black men who were arrested for simply sitting inside a Philadelphia Starbucks reached a symbolic $1 settlement with the city — in exchange for the creation of a $200,000 program to boost young entrepreneurs.
Rashon Nelson and Donte Robinson want the initiative aimed at public high-school students. Their arrests stemming from the April 12 incident will also be wiped from their records as part of the deal.
The men also reached a financial settlement with Starbucks, which offered to pay for them to complete their degrees through a partnership it has with Arizona State University.
They will get to discuss their experience and share their ideas for changes at Starbucks with former US Attorney General Eric Holder, the company said.
Other terms of that settlement, which was reached ear- lier this week, weren’t disclosed.
“We thought long and hard about it and we feel like this is the best way to see that change that we want to see,” said Robinson. “It’s not a right-now thing that’s good for right now, but I feel like we will see the true change over time.”
Nelson and Robinson, both 23, were led away in handcuffs while waiting to meet someone in the coffee chain’s Rittenhouse Square location.
A manager called police saying the men, who were there for a business meeting about a potential real-estate opportunity, refused to buy anything or leave.
Their arrests sparked national outrage and protests against Starbucks.
“When you know that you did nothing wrong, how do you really react to it?” Nelson has said previously.
“You can either be ignorant or you can show some type of sophistication and act like you have class. That was the choice we had.”
He and Robinson spent hours in jail before being released without being charged.
Starbucks CEO Kevin Johnson praised them for their “willingness to reconcile.”
“I welcome the opportunity to begin a relationship with them to share learnings and experiences,” he said in a statement. “And Starbucks will continue to take actions that stem from this incident to repair and reaffirm our values and vision for the kind of company we want to be.”
Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney said the incident “evoked a lot of pain in our city.”
“Rather than spending time, money, and resources to engage in a potentially adversarial process, Rashon Nelson and Donte Robinson approached the city and invited us to partner with them in an attempt to make something positive come of this,” he said.