飽受批評 星巴克結束促進種族團結計劃

Howard D. Schultz, the chief executive of Starbucks, said in a letter to employees on Sunday that baristas would no longer be encouraged to write the phrase “Race Together” on customers’ coffee cups, drawing to a close a widely derided component of the company’s plan to promote a discussion on racial issues.

星巴克(Starbucks)首席執行官霍華德·D·舒爾茨(Howard D. Schultz)週日在一封致員工信中說道，不再鼓勵咖啡師在客人的咖啡杯上寫“種族共處”(Race Together)這個口號。於是，該公司旨在就種族議題促進公開討論，但卻廣泛受到嘲笑的計劃就此結束。

“While there has been criticism of the initiative — and I know this hasn’t been easy for any of you — let me assure you that we didn’t expect universal praise,” Mr. Schultz wrote.

“儘管這個項目受到了批評，我也知道這個舉措對你們所有人來說，都不算容易，但我想明確地告訴大家，我們並沒有指望會受到普遍的讚譽，”舒爾茨寫道。

Having baristas write on customers’ cups, Mr. Schultz wrote, “which was always just the catalyst for a much broader and longer-term conversation — will be completed as originally planned today, March 22.”

讓咖啡師在顧客的杯子上寫口號的做法，舒爾茨寫道，“只是促進更廣泛、更長期討論的催化劑，這種做法將按照最初的計劃，於今天即3月22日結束。”

That end date had not previously been mentioned publicly, including during Mr. Schultz’s discussion of the initiative at the company’s annual shareholders meeting last week, but a company spokeswoman, Laurel Harper, said employees had been told about it.

這個截止日期此前從未被公開透露過。舒爾茨上週在公司的年度股東大會上談到這項行動時，也未提及截止日期。不過星巴克女發言人洛瑞爾·哈珀(Laurel Harper)透露，曾向員工們透露過這個日期。

Asked whether Starbucks was reacting to criticism, Ms. Harper said, “That is not true at all. When we initially began the Race Together initiative, what we wanted to do is spark the conversation, because we believe that is the first step in a complicated issue.”

在被問及星巴克此舉是不是爲了迴應批評時，哈珀說，“完全不是這樣。我們最初開始‘種族共處’項目的時候，我們希望做的事情就是激發討論，因爲我們相信這是一個複雜議題中的第一步。”

She added, “Leading change isn’t an easy thing to accomplish.”

她又說，“引領變革並不是容易達成的任務。”

The initiative, which began last week, was mocked with such vehemence on social media that the company’s senior vice president for global communications deleted his Twitter account because, as he wrote on Medium, he felt “personally attacked in a cascade of negativity.”

這項於上週啓動的計劃，在社交網絡上受到了猛烈的嘲諷，以至於該公司負責全球溝通的高級副總裁刪除了自己的Twitter賬戶。他在Medium上寫道，原因是他感覺到了“一波又一波負面的人身攻擊”。

Some critics said that Starbucks might look first to its own executive team, which they suggested was considerably less diverse than lower-paid staff. Others felt that a coffee company should not foist such discussions on customers.

一些批評人士說，星巴克或許應該先看一下它自己的高管團隊。他們提出，該公司高管團隊中的多元性，遠低於薪水較低的那些員工。其他人則感覺，一家咖啡店不應該把這種討論強加給顧客。

“I’ll have a flat white,” read one cartoon, referring to an espresso drink the company has recently started serving. “No racism intended.”

“我想要一杯白咖啡(flat white)，”一幅漫畫裏這樣寫道。“沒有種族歧視的意思。”這是星巴克最近推出的一款濃縮咖啡。

But the broader initiative, Mr. Schultz wrote Sunday, “is far from over.”

然而舒爾茨週日寫道，更廣泛的行動“還遠未結束”。

More open forums are planned, Mr. Schultz wrote, and three special sections in USA Today focusing on racial issues are to appear over the next year, along with “more open dialogue with police and community leaders in cities across our country, a continued focus on jobs and education for our nation’s young people.”

舒爾茨寫道，還計劃了更多的公開論壇，《今日美國報》(USA Today)上將於明年開闢三個關注種族議題的特別欄目，此外“還會在全國各個城市，在警方和社區領袖之間促進更多的公開對話，並持續關注我國年輕人的就業和教育”。

Starbucks has also committed, he said, to hiring “10,000 opportunity youth over the next three years” and expanding its store footprint in “urban communities.”

他說，星巴克還承諾，“在未來三年裏僱傭一萬名有前途的年輕人”，並將擴大“城市社區裏”店鋪的數量。

The criticisms, Ms. Harper said, have not dented Starbucks’ determination. “This is who we are,” she said. “Our mission is to inspire and nurture the human spirit, one person, one cup and one neighborhood at a time. We know that we don’t have all the solutions and the answers, but for us, doing nothing makes us part of the problem.”

哈珀表示，這些批評並沒有改變星巴克的決心。“我們本質如此，”她說。“我們的使命就是激發和滋養人類精神，每個人、每杯咖啡、每個社區都是進展。我們明白，我們拿不出所有的解決方案和答案，但如果我們什麼都不做，就會成爲問題的一部分。”