Two African American guys went to a Starbucks to meet a guy with whom they were working on a business project. They did not bother to buy anything. One of them tried to use the bathroom and was told he could not do so unless he bought something first. The manager then told the guys they could not sit and wait without buying anything. They would not buy anything and they would not leave.
So the manager of the Starbucks called the police and the police told the men they had to buy something or leave. They did not do either thing - they told the police they were waiting for someone.
The police arrested the men, but later (after 8 hours) released them.
Starbucks fired the manager and apologized. They are going to provide a training program to teach all of their staff members how not to discriminate against people at Starbucks. (prejudice is an attitude, something a person feels; discrimination is action taken against people because of prejudice)
The Philadelphia Police Department (this happened in Philadelphia) claims that the police did the right thing. If you walk into a coffee shop, you have to buy something, you cannot use the space for free.
How do you feel about this?
An article:
http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/News/men-arrested-starbucks-business-meeting-hoping-change-lives/story?id=54578217
Vocabulary:
to be arrested: this is when the police take a person into custody (they take a person to the police station because they believe he/she has committed a crime)
to be accused of something: when someone says you have done something wrong
trespassing - going some place you were not allowed to go (often this means you entered onto land that doesn't belong to you - here it means they entered a restaurant and didn't buy anything)
an entrepreneur - a business person, someone who wants to get involved in a business activity
a barista - at Starbucks, the people behind the counter are called baristas
to decline - to say 'no'
real estate - property
ultimately - finally
to handcuff someone - to put a metal device around a person's two wrists so that he cannot fight
escorted them - led them, removed them from the store
a squad car - a police car
the charges they were facing - the accusations against them, what they were accused of, what they supposedly had done wrong
the charges were dropped - the police said, "OK, we are removing any accusations against you, you may go."
prompted protests - caused protests
a protest - when a group of people come together publicly to complain about something they feel is wrong
minding their own business - not bothering any one
their Miranda rights - whenever anyone in America is arrested, the police have to tell the person his/her rights - "You have the right to remain silent, you don't have to say anything, you also have the right to get a lawyer immediately..." Miranda was a person who was arrested but he wasn't told his rights and he complained about this. So now there is a la named after him requiring the police to tell every arrested person what his/her rights are.
defiant trespassing - you are someplace you shouldn't be and you won't leave (you are defiant - you say "No! I won't do that!")
a video testimonial - a video statement
candidly - completely honestly
to spot something - to see something, to realize something
unconscious bias - bias means prejudice; unconscious bias means you are not even aware that you are acting because you are prejudiced against certain people
reprehensible - very, very wrong, disgustingly wrong
subsequently - later, afterwards
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