#RaceTogether

#RaceTogether

Updated Mar 22, 2017 at 06:02PM EDT by Don.

Added Mar 18, 2015 at 03:59PM EDT by Brad.

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About

#RaceTogether is a promotional Twitter hashtag launched by the American global coffeehouse chain Starbucks to encourage its customers to engage in conversations about the state of race relations in the United States. Upon its launch in March 2015, the campaign immediately became a target of criticisms and mockeries online for its provocative nature.

Origin

On March 16th, 2015, Starbucks, in partnership with USA Today[1], announced a new co-op initiative called "Race Together," which aims to tackle the issue of race in the United States by encouraging its employees at 12,000 locations to “spark customer conversation on the topic of race." According to the USA Today's article, Starbucks baristas at participating locations will serve drinks in cups bearing the hashtag #RaceTogether, along with a "Race Together" pamphlet co-written by the coffeehouse chain and the daily newspaper.


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Spread

On the morning of March 17th, dozens of Starbucks customers took their reactions to the #RaceTogether campaign on Twitter[9], with many poking fun at the company's less than subtle attempt at incorporating the ongoing racial tension into their latest PR campaign, while others jeered that the company should instead focus on getting the customers' names right. According to Topsy[6], the Twitter hashtag garnered more than 67,000 mentions within the first 48 hours of the campaign launch.


Follow Hasan Minhaj @hasanminha Before they write #RaceTogether on cups, can Starbucks just spell my name correctly? #SahanMinha #HansonMinaja #Saddam Hussain 10:40 AM - 17 Mar 2015 98 RETWEETS 128 FAVORITES Follow Greg Carr @AfricanaCarr #RaceTogether should matter to @Starbucks. Coffee and sugar were 2 of the 3 drug:s (w/tobacco) that started this mess in the first place. 10:33 AM - 17 Mar 2015 208 RETWEETS 183 FAVORITES Follow April @ReignOfApril Not sure what @Starbucks was thinking. I don't have time to explain 400 years of oppression to you & still make my train. #RaceTogether 7:59 AM-17 Mar 2015 538 RETWEETS 522F
rogether ace Together Dina Pomeranz @dinapomeranz Follow Starbucks' #RaceTogether invites customers to talk about race. Uses only white hands in related photos: pic.twitter.com/GxQysqnghF via @vidalwuu 9:51 AM-17 Mar 2015 417 RETWEETS 277 FAVORITES わ ★ WELCOMETOSTARBUCKS LET'S DISCUSS YOUR WHITE PRIVILEGE 臺 壇Follow Ameena Rasheed @AmeenaRasheed What I want to do: 1. Eat pizza 2. Pay off my loan debt 77. Hang out with Rihanna 895. Talk about race at Starbucks #RaceTogether RETWEETS FAVORITES

MSNBC Segment

Later that evening, CBS Sunday Morning commentator Nancy Giles and New York City radio DJ and music blogger Jay Smooth appeared in a split-screen debate segment on MSNBC's nightly news program All In with Chris Hayes to discuss the Starbucks campaign and race relations in the United States, during which Giles insinuated that Smooth had co-opted black culture, unaware of the fact that Jay Smooth is half black.



"It's also interesting because I'm actually black, but you assumed otherwise. And this is the sort of awkwardness that we can look forward to at Starbucks across America."

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External References

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Top Comments

poochyena
poochyena

" to engage in conversations about the state of race relations in the United States"

What exactly is there to discuss?
And why do i constantly hear "we need to talk about racism more!"? Its already talked about non-stop and it ends up causing harm because now it feels like EVERYTHING is racism.

The only time i really hear about racism is when a black guy commits a crime and the police over-react (which they do with people of any skin color). But, because he was black, its somehow racism. Maybe it was, but these are isolated incidents of people committing crimes. Its not like people are going around killing black people for no reason very often.

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