A viral TikToker says she wants to see more coffee shops and fewer liquor stores in primarily Black neighborhoods.
User @ambijay_ posted a now-viral TikTok video showing the inside of a thriving Starbucks location in a Black neighborhood. As of Monday, her video has received about 747,000 views on the social media platform.
“This is what happens when you put a Starbucks in a Black neighborhood,” the video’s on-screen text says. “Black people love coffee and fresh juice, stop filling our neighborhoods with liquor stores and fried chicken spots.”
In the video, the Starbucks location is staffed with Black baristas and full of Black customers. Outside, several cars are seen waiting in the shop’s drive-thru lane.
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The lack of coffee shops in predominantly Black neighborhoods could be partly attributed to a behavior known as “coffee shop racism.” Racial discrimination in places like coffee shops is embedded in today’s culture, The Guardian reported in 2018, citing incidents by both customers and employees toward Black patrons and workers.
Starbucks itself has received criticisms for racial discrimination, notably incidents of calling the police on Black guests and building Starbucks locations in predominantly white areas, which Eater reported to be 83% of stores in 2015. In response to the backlash, Starbucks pledged in 2020 to open or remodel 85 locations in low-income communities by 2025, according to CNBC.
However, TikToker @ambijay clarified in the comments what she meant by “Black neighborhoods.” She wrote, “I want to be clear, I said black neighborhoods, & y’all thought the hood.
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SOURCE: The Daily Dot, Cecilia Lenzen
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