(Photo by Elijah Nouvelage/Getty Images)
This week Starbucks sparked public outrage after it was reported that an internal memo was sent out banning employees banning from wearing accessories or clothing that shows support for the Black Lives Matter movement.
READ MORE: Sephora agrees to devote 15% of shelf space to Black-owned businesses
Initially, BuzzFeed News reported that they had obtained the memo, which cited the company’s accessories policy that forbids accessories that “advocated a political, religious or personal issue,” as the reason for banning any BLM support gear.
“Starbucks LGBTQ+ partners wear LGBTQ+ pins and shirts, that also could incite and create violent experiences amongst partners and customers,” one Black transgender Starbucks employee pointed out to BuzzFeed.
The Starbucks Black Partner Network co-designed t-shirts with this graphic that will soon be sent to 250,000+ store partners.”
In addition to creating company-sponsored BLM gear, a follow-up tweet also explained, “In response to this historic time, our store partners can also show support for the Black Lives Matter movement with their own t-shirts, pins and name tags.”
