Latino Starbucks customer given cup with ‘beaner’ on label
A Latino man is hurt after a Starbucks barista wrote "beaner" on his cup.
Miguel Acosta told his friend, only identified as Peter, was given the offensive cup at a store in La Cañada Flintridge, California.
“He went to Starbucks, and they asked for his name, and his name is ‘Peter,’ and they wrote this ‘beaner,’ Acosta said through a co-worker who was translating. “And he’s saying that’s not fair.”
Acosta said the incident made Peter sad.
Patrons at the Starbucks said they were stunned.
“I’m shocked,” said one woman. “I go to that Starbucks almost every day.”
“I’m disappointed in Starbucks, I mean, that’s — when you put something in the computer and put a name on something, you’re labeling someone, and I think that’s not right,” said one man.
Starbucks released the following statement: "This is not indicative of the type of experience we want our customers to have when they walk into our stores. We have apologized to the customer directly and are working to make things right.”
The incident drew comparisons to last month's arrest of two black men at a Philadelphia Starbucks as they waited for a friend to arrive. After that incident, Starbucks plans to shut down its stores for a day later this month to train employees on racial bias.