The Starbucks Music Store Under Howard Schultz Was Painfully White
Howard Schultz, the former Starbucks CEO now actively contemplating an independent presidential bid, has had a tricky history dealing with race issues.
He was loudly mocked in 2015 for launching a “Race Together” campaign, which was done to spark conversations about racial inequality among patrons of his coffeeshop empire but which critics called tone deaf. Even before then, his tenure leading the Seattle Supersonics ownership group, raised eyebrows when the team replaced in-arena hip-hop music with “mellow jazz” and Bobby Darin.
Schultz, in his new book, apologized for the 2015 campaign, acknowledging that it was “patronizing.” But if more evidence is needed that race could become a complicating factor in a possible presidential run, one need look no further than the former CEO’s music store.
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