Rashon Nelson and Donte Robinson, the African-American entrepreneurs at the heart of Starbucks‘ racism scandal, have spoken of the traumatic incident in their very first televised interview.
The friends were waiting to meet a business partner in one of the company’s stores when a member of staff called the police. To their horror, they were arrested.
Their crime? Not ordering anything from the menu.
It was just, ‘Get out, you have to leave. You’re not buying anything, so you shouldn’t be here.
Their story, via ‘Good Morning America‘ and Robin Roberts, below…
FULL INTERVIEW: “This is something that has been going on for years…everyone is blind to it.”
Rashon Nelson & Donte Robinson, the 2 black men arrested at a Starbucks in Philadelphia, speak out exclusively to @RobinRoberts: https://t.co/bIBmMGlwWN pic.twitter.com/IZekmHrWw2
— Good Morning America (@GMA) April 19, 2018
The company’s CEO had this to say about the scandal.
FULL INTERVIEW: “I personally apologize…” Starbucks CEO Kevin Johnson one-on-one with @RobinRoberts in his first interview after two black men were handcuffed at a Philadelphia store.
FULL STORY: https://t.co/4CL5j2lPL7 pic.twitter.com/AVnguPqAxa
— Good Morning America (@GMA) April 16, 2018
May 29th will see the business shut all of its stores as it is to use the day to educate its staff on racial bias and how it may sully their judgement when dealing with customers.
![Ariana Grande Soars On 'Carpool Karaoke' [Video]](https://thatgrapejuice.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/ariana-grande-carpool-karaoke-tgj-464x260.jpg "Ariana Grande Soars On 'Carpool Karaoke' [Video].")
Both these two guys are wrong and the store manager is wrong. This is definitely a case where the store manager was racist. However, this sense of entitlement in this generation needs to stop. A resteraunt is not your personal hangout spot. Buy something! You are blocking paying customers from getting a table to sit down. If a resteraunt employee offers you water say thank you and take the water. Legally, that free water just converted you from a noncustomer to a customer. Now this scheister lawyer got the case and he will take in 70 to 80 percent of whatever settlement check starbucks offers and judging by how fast starbucks acted that check won’t be much.
Who says you have to order immediately? Plus how would a free water make someone a customer? They were waiting on someone to arrive and these days Starbucks is a hangout for a lot of people. White people go there just to hang out all the time.
You don’t have to buy anything to sit at a table in Starbucks, likewise Barnes and Noble and Books A Millions. They were created to be social hubs were people could come hangout, chat or work and use the free wifi. If you happen to buy a cup of coffee or a book great, if not, they hope you still had a great time and enjoyed the social environment. There are no rules that say you have to buy something to use the wifi or to have a seat a table because that’s not what they were founded for. If you were listening they said that they were there for a business meeting and that they were waiting for a 3rd member to show up. Perhaps they were being courteous and waiting until the 3rd guy showed up to get in line so that they all could order together and finish their food/drinks together. When the 3rd guy did show up, a white guy, he asked what happened and the cops couldn’t tell him what they did wrong, so therefore they should not have been arrested. The cops were wrong and manager was wrong and the two gentlemen were not being entitled.
Caleb and Septa trust me I totally get what you are saying and I myself have been guilty of going to Starbucks, working on my laptop or meeting a client, and not ordering anything. I still cannot overlook the sense of entitlement and pethaps guilt though when I lookup and see paying customers holding their coffees waiting on a table and I’m occupying one and have not bought anything. Starbucks is not a library. The manager was racist for calling the cops but the two men are in the wrong for turning down the free water. If they had the water on their table, legally when the cops came they could not have been arrested because the water made them customers.
Caleb I also don’t think it is fair to generalize people on race. I live in LA and I honestly have never seen a white person sitting in starbucks without a Starbucks drink in front of them and I’ve been to numerous starbucks all over la. I could generalize too and say that black people have a habit of talking too loudly in resteraunts, disrupting other patrons’ conversations with their loud talk and laughter, but I wont say that.
You are a muthaf*ckin lie if you claim you live in LA and have never seen people in Starbucks or Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf or any damn coffee shop sitting and working or reading w/o a drink in site. It’s common in LA. People spend HOURS on their laptop in coffee shops all over LA. You simply sound like one of those people who is afraid to make the slightest peep against injustice and fall for the “whataboutism” or “theyshouldajustism” that people use to not to apply intelligence, discernment and a sense of plain decency when there are problems. You’ll always find a way to not hold the instigator accountable because you are fearful and timid about demanding to be treated equitably. I feel sorry for you. Go find your voice!
You literally just described the exact opposite of me. First, I do not lie. I grew up in Santa Monica and I have lIved in BH, Beverly crest, and now Passaic Palisades. I have not seen people just hanging out at Starbucks all day without ord wring something but the max time I’m usually at Starbucks is 1 to 2 hrs max. If your experiences are different then great for you but there is no reason for u to come for me.
Second, if you had reading comprehension skills you can clearly see that I called out everyone in this story from the racist manager, racist cops, scheister lawyer, and the two black guys for turning down the free water. As a black person you have to learn the laws and use them in your favor if they would have taken the free water then they would automatically be considered patrons of the resteraunt by law. I am more like Angela Davis than the Auntie Tom you wish I were dear. You got me twisted and I corrected you with some clarity. Just dont every come for me like that again ok.
pon_de that Trashmine thing always tells lies we catch her out all the time, someone is starting a gofund to help her with her illness if you’re willing to help the hopeless now is your chance.
Troll Alert!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
S****** is trolling as JohnVidal again
Don’t Engage! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Again, you are a liar and I’m sorry you’re mad about it. In case you are confused, this is me coming for you yet again. Only a confused patsy or liar such as you would claim that on the Westside of Los Angeles, where you claim you are from, no one goes to Starbucks to chill. That’s like someone in Arkansas saying they’ve never seen people just hanging out in Walmart without purchasing anything. You’re either incredibly inobservant or lying. It’s that simple. Don’t be mad. Be better. Ciao, bello.
pon_de if I tell anyone to not come for me that is a warning. That does not mean you get to keep speaking to me let alone call me a liar. The westside of LA is large and perhaps you are talking about the more citified part like Westwood or Century City where a lot of starving artists hangout. Unfortunately, that is not where I hang out so don’t accuse me of being a liar when I already told you specifically the locations where I do hangout. There are hundreds of places to “chill” in LA. Im a career woman so even going to a starbucks I am usually there to do my work and the ones I go to have likeminded people. You also accused me of being like an Uncle Tom’s wife and I’ll repeat and say that is the exact opposite of me. You seem to want to paint a picture of what you want me to be instead of accepting me for the boss woman I am. Enjoy your weekend dear because I’m not about to tell a grown man to fall back a 3rd time.
Sorry, I am black and I hang out at Starbucks all the time. No problem. i don’t know what happened here but Starbucks has been cool with me so to tar the whole company and all its stores by the actions of one employee who may have acted inappropriately is in and of itself a form of bigotry and unjust prejudice. Deal with that employee , not even that store but that employee. The whole story is not being told and I am even waiting for more info but Starbucks as a chain has been cool in every single of my dozens of visits to many different stores. i have never been discriminated or treated badly . So cut the fake outrage, I have never heard or seen any black person mistreated either, this is bulls*** outrage!!! I am sick of all this phony victim-hood of late, cut this s*** out and grow up and stop being little sissies every time you feel someone didn’t treat you like a little delicate flower.
As far as we know, yes this is an isolated incident, and I agree it’s more a reflection of the manager and the cops. Because technically the cops should have never arrested them because they could not say what the two guys did wrong. If anything they should have scolded the manager wasting their time on a nonemergency. Another big upset was holding them for 8hrs without just cause. Even though Starbucks as a whole was not responsible for this incident, it does unfortunately taint their name.
LAWSUIT!!!!! Get ready 2 pay up Starbucks