I have no doubt Starbucks Coffee will reverse its position on Black lives symbolism.
There is no place that freedom of political expression should be denied. If employees can properly wear their uniforms and choose to wear an accessory that highlights a political cause they support, they should not be denied.
Starbucks has sent a memo to its employees announcing that Black lives symbolism will not be allowed to be worn by on-duty staff. This is an untenable position.
People often say there’s no place for politics and religion or that it’s impossible to discuss those subjects in a civil manner, so they should be avoided. That, to me, is one of the great weaknesses of our society: Avoiding difficult conversations leads to disengagement, which leads to ignorance.
We must not be ignorant.
We must not avoid difficult conversations.
It’s OK to disagree politically with someone and learn from their point of view without invalidating your own.
It’s also OK to learn new information and change your position on any given subject.
That doesn’t make you a hypocrite, it makes you educated. It doesn’t make you weak — it makes you stronger. It doesn’t make you stupid — it makes you smarter.
At the same time, we must recognize that while people will wear items that support causes we may believe in (Black lives, LGBTQ+, etc), they will also wear items we don’t, and those people have just as much of a right to free speech in public and in the workplace.
If an employee is able to remain professional and respect workplace decorum, a symbol of their own choosing is perfectly acceptable, provided it doesn’t cross into hate speech or represents a terrorist organization (I would never allow a Hamas t-shirt or a KKK pin. There is a line and it has to be clear).
It’s incumbent upon employers (such as myself) to encourage employees to feel free express themselves and, at the same time, ensure that the employees are not subjected to the politics of the employer. This is a tricky tightrope to walk, and as a politically-engaged person myself, one that I’ve found difficult to navigate.
In the end, Starbucks will surely reverse this policy. Either that, or it will have no choice but to walk away from public support of all causes including LGBTQ+, which would be a mistake and a loss for a good cause.
