In the Starbucks incident neither man actually used the restroom, rather they were arrested for refusing to leave:
"Two black men walked into a Starbucks in downtown Philadelphia on Thursday afternoon and sat down. Officials said they had asked to use the restroom but because they had not bought anything, an employee refused the request. They were eventually asked to leave, and when they declined, an employee called the police" (1)
The charge of racism rests on the claim that they would not be asked to leave had they been white. But what is the evidence for that claim? Has no white person ever been asked to leave a Starbucks for sitting at a table without buying anything?
The problem I have with this argument is Starbucks has become so ubiquitous they stand as a meeting place within a community.
What does that mean? Imagine the contrast of meeting inside a posh restaurant and not buying anything, versus meeting at, say a 7-11 convenience store. The first one is not imaginable, but the second seems possible. (Have you ever been in a 7-11? Those workers don’t give a hoot about much of anything. Day old hot dogs on rollers).
If you’re in a private business which has this ‘meeting place’ reputation I think they are more lax with the buy ‘something or leave’ norm. That’s were I find objection with this story.
Of course particular owners, employees, locations, and the behavior of the non-buying guests are what makes the difference between _no harm, no foul_ and nuisance disturbance of the actual paying customers. Devil is in the details.
"Two black men walked into a Starbucks in downtown Philadelphia on Thursday afternoon and sat down. Officials said they had asked to use the restroom but because they had not bought anything, an employee refused the request. They were eventually asked to leave, and when they declined, an employee called the police" (1)
The charge of racism rests on the claim that they would not be asked to leave had they been white. But what is the evidence for that claim? Has no white person ever been asked to leave a Starbucks for sitting at a table without buying anything?
(1) https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/15/us/starbucks-philadelphia...