Starbucks’ racial equity overhaul will take time, outside review says

One month after Starbucks closed 8,000 stores for racial biasing training for 175,000 employees, two of the curriculum’s advisers laid out a new set of recommendations for how one of the world’s most dominant companies can further address diversity, equity and inclusion.

In a report published Monday, Heather McGhee, senior fellow of the public policy organization Demos, and Sherrilyn Ifill, president and director-council of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, outlined how Starbucks and other companies could achieve a “full-scale racial equity overhaul.” While McGhee and Ifill served as pro bono advisers on Starbucks’ May 29 training, they conducted the report independently and in consultation with dozens of organizations and experts, from racial and religious groups to legal and policy centers.

McGhee and Ifill wrote that in the weeks before the training, Starbucks would have to — and did — make clear to employees that the May 29 training marked the start of a long-term companywide commitment to diversity and inclusion. Moreover, McGhee and Ifill wrote that the April arrests of Donte Robinson and Rashon Nelson had to be framed within the broader context of the historical bias against black people in public spaces.

The report also acknowledged swift changes to Starbucks’ policy in the wake of the arrests in Philadelphia.

Gene J. Puskar / Associated Press file An outside review noted that Starbucks quickly changed its policies on using its space and restrooms without purchases.