Employees can wear BLM slogan on apparel

Starbucks said Friday that employees would be allowed to wear Black Lives Matter shirts and pins, a sudden reversal of a company policy that had banned the slogan because it could “amplify divisiveness.”

Amid social media backlash to the policy, the chain declared that it would provide Starbucks-designed Black Lives Matter shirts for employees who want them.

“Starbucks stands in solidarity with our black partners, community and customers, and understands the desire to express themselves,” Starbucks said in a statement. “We continue to listen to our partners (employees) about how they want to take a stand for justice, while proudly wearing the green apron and standing united together.”

Calls to boycott Starbucks emerged after Starbucks posted a series of messages on social media that many employees considered to be hypocritical. On June 4, the company’s official Twitter account posted, “Black lives matter. We are committed to being a part of change.” But employees who wanted to project a similar message by wearing shirts or pins on the job had learned in recent days that doing so was prohibited.

As BuzzFeed News reported Wednesday in an article that amplified criticism of the coffee chain, an internal Starbucks dress code memo stated that wearing Black Lives Matter clothing and accessories could be misunderstood and incite violence. Instead, Starbucks leadership urged employees to wear a “Black Partner Network’s Keep it Brewing shirt.”

Compounding the frustrations of employees — and also a growing number of customers learning about this policy — was the fact that Starbucks hands out pins and other attire to celebrate LGBTQ rights and Pride month.

On Friday, Starbucks said on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter that it had changed its policy.

Some expressed cynicism that the company’s core beliefs had shifted. “As an avid Starbucks patron, I’m very confused,” Bryanna Claybourne of Norcross, Ga., wrote on Instagram. “Why make a statement saying your employees can’t wear BLM apparel but not 24 hours later tell them now it’s okay because you ‘stand with us.’ Pick a side. Admit you made a mistake. Don’t romanticize this movement for publicity. This is real life.”

Starbucks responded, saying, “Our ongoing commitment is to listen, learn and work to be a better company.”