Charles Blow on Starbucks' "race card"

Mary Bruno

Mary Bruno Jul 7, 2025

Feb 6, 2018

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          <article>
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                <h1>Charles Blow on Starbucks' "race card"</h1>
                <h2><p>The New York Times columnist responds to Starbuck's recent "Race Together" initiative, which encourages baristas to engage customers in conversations about race. "The suspicion and ridicule ... has been swift and broad," writes Blow, who goes on to reference comments by former Vice president Dick</p></h2>
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               <p>By <a href="/author/mary-bruno-crosscut-com/">Mary Bruno</a></p> 
              <p><time datetime="2025-02-04T05:00:00-08:00">Feb 6, 2018</time></p>
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            <p>The New York Times columnist <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/19/opinion/charles-blow-stop-playing-the-race-card-card.html?rref=opinion&module=Ribbon&version=origin&region=Header&action=click&contentCollection=Opinion&pgtype=article&ref=dev.cascadepbs.org">responds</a> to Starbuck's recent "Race Together" initiative, which encourages baristas to engage customers in conversations about race. "The suspicion and ridicule ... has been swift and broad," writes Blow, who goes on to reference comments by former Vice president Dick Cheney, Attorney General Eric Holder and President Obama about race. Writing in <a href="http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/244035?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A%20entrepreneur%2Flatest%20%28Entrepreneur%29">Entrepreneur Magazine</a>, Kate Taylor calls the Starbucks effort "Tone-deaf and self-aggrandizing ...".</p><p>"And yet," she continues, "I would like to assume that the motive is noble even if something about it feels a shade off."</p>
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The New York Times columnist responds to Starbuck's recent "Race Together" initiative, which encourages baristas to engage customers in conversations about race. "The suspicion and ridicule ... has been swift and broad," writes Blow, who goes on to reference comments by former Vice president Dick Cheney, Attorney General Eric Holder and President Obama about race. Writing in Entrepreneur Magazine, Kate Taylor calls the Starbucks effort "Tone-deaf and self-aggrandizing ...".

"And yet," she continues, "I would like to assume that the motive is noble even if something about it feels a shade off."

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By Mary Bruno

Mary was Crosscut's Editor-in-Chief and Interim Publisher. In more than 25 years as a journalist, she has worked as a writer, editor and editorial director for a variety of print and web publications,