Wednesday, May 2, 2018

Starbucks race row: Black men arrested in Philadelphia cafe settle for $1


Two black men who were arrested at a Starbucks cafe by Philadelphia police last month have reached a financial settlement with the city.

Rashon Nelson and Donte Robinson will each receive a symbolic $1 and a promise from officials to set up a programme for young entrepreneurs.

The arrest of the men, who had not yet ordered and were waiting for a friend, kicked off a row over racial profiling.

Starbucks announced days later it would require employee anti-bias training.


Media captionWatch the arrest of two black men at Starbucks - and the protests that followed
The settlement, which was confirmed to BBC News by a spokesman for Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenny, includes a vow from the city to contribute $200,000 (£147,000) to the new programme.

The grant money will go towards creating a pilot programme "for city public high school students with aspirations of becoming entrepreneurs, as envisioned by Robinson and Nelson, who will not receive any money from the grant", the city announced in a press release.

The 12 April arrest led to protests at Starbucks cafes around the country, while other customers shared claims of racial profiling by company staff.

The arrest was captured on mobile phone video and showed the men being led away in handcuffs after a manager had accused them of trespassing and causing a disturbance.

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The two longtime friends, both 23, had just sat down at the coffee chain's downtown location for a meeting to discuss a possible real estate deal.

After spending hours in jail, they were released and no charges were filed.

The Philadelphia chief of police later apologised for his handling of the arrest.

Mayor Kenney said in a statement that he was "pleased to have resolved the potential claims against the city in this productive manner".

"This was an incident that evoked a lot of pain in our city," he continued.

Starbucks race row leaves customers with a bitter aftertaste
"Rather than spending time, money, and resources to engage in a potentially adversarial process, Rashon Nelson and Donte Robinson approached the city and invited us to partner with them in an attempt to make something positive come of this.

"This agreement is the result of those conversations, and I look forward to seeing the fruits of this effort in the coming months and years."

source:www.bbc.com

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