The world has been in turmoil ever since the recent death of George Floyd.
There are many Starbucks employees and customers up in arms about the recent memo that was sent out from Starbucks addressing the Black Lives Matter movement.
Just last week, an internal memo was sent out to Starbucks employees warning staff from wearing “Black Lives Matter” clothing or accessories while at work. Buzzfeed was the first website to obtain the memo from Starbucks, which has always had a policy against “religious, political, or personal advocations”.
With that said, Starbucks employees did note that the company allows them to wear pins or other accessories that support LGBTQ equality when June (Pride month) comes around. In fact, many employees say that the company encourages them to support that community.
Employees feel that these LGBTQ pins could also incite or create experiences that are violent between employees and customers. There have been many cases of Starbucks employees experiencing harassment, homophobia, and transphobia at work, though Starbucks always sticks behind them.
One of the top executives of Starbucks recently sent out a video warning employees against those who may be “agitators who misconstrue the fundamental principles” of the BLM movement. The company executive also mentioned that these same people could “amplify divisiveness” if they display support for BLM in their stores.
Part of the memo that was sent out noted the fact that Starbucks recognized the genuine intent of their employees and how important/personal of a movement that this is for so many of them.
The memo signed off with “This is important and we hear you.’
The authenticity of the memo was confirmed by one of the company’s spokespersons. The spokesperson said that these types of messages are prohibited in Starbucks locations for the simple safety of their employees. They say that their aim is to create a welcoming environment at every Starbucks location.
The spokesperson mentioned the fact that Starbucks does share the opinions and beliefs of all of their partners and that they encourage every employee to bring their true selves to work every single day, as long as they adhere to the company dress code.
The following day, however, Starbucks revised their statement and did a complete 180.
The company released a statement on their website, which read “We See You. We Hear You. Black Lives Matter. This is a fact and will never change”.
It is obvious that protests have been erupting all over the country after the murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis police officers near the end of May. There are currently hundreds if not thousands of companies around the world sharing their support for the Black Lives Matter movement.
More information about Black Lives Matter can be found on the organization website. The organization is based in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Canada, and was made to eradicate white supremacy around the world while intervening in violence inflicted on Black communities by building local power.
