PHILADELPHIA, April 14, 2018 — In response to arrests of two African-American males at the Starbucks at 18th & Spruce Streets on Thursday, April 12th, Councilman Kenyatta Johnson (2nd District) issued the following statement:
“I’m alarmed and extremely discouraged by reports of arrests made, seemingly based on racial profiling, in the 2nd Council District earlier this week.
“I like to think that Philadelphia, the City of Brotherly Love, and the corporations that do business here in 2018 would set a better example and have handled this situation differently. Employees need sensitivity and diversity training to resolve conflicts peacefully without an appearance of racial injustice or bias.
“I’m encouraged that the Philadelphia Police Department is investigating how it handled this incident, the Philadelphia Commission on Human Relations has reached out to Starbucks to discuss further, and Starbucks has apologized for this incident and acknowledged they are reviewing policies to improve employee training. The issue remains these young men should not have received different treatment from other guests on-site and should not have been arrested in the first place. I would hope Starbucks finds this incident violates its internal policies and replaces management at this location. Racial profiling should not be tolerated in 2018.”
# # #
