星巴克被捕的黑人男子呼吁采取行动

Black Men Arrested in Starbucks Call for Action, Not Anger

Two black men arrested in an American Starbucks store say they are working with the company to bring about meaningful changes. They hope the changes will prevent other people from going through the same experience.

The two men spoke¹ to reporters Thursday for the first time since the April 12 incident at a Starbucks in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Police arrested the men, walked them out of the store and took them to jail.

The 23-year-old men – Rashon Nelson and Donte Robinson – told the Associated Press they did nothing wrong. Part of the incident was captured on video by another person inside the Starbucks. The video was published on Twitter. It has more than 11 million views.

The video caused anger on social media. Many people criticized the arrests as an example of racial discrimination and racial profiling. People protested at Starbucks stores across the country. Some groups called for a boycott² of the company.

Police say a Starbucks manager called them. The manager reported the two men were sitting at a table in the store but were not buying anything. The manager asked them to leave. They refused. They explained to the manager that they were waiting for someone else to arrive to have a business meeting there.

Nelson has also said the manager told him he could not use the store’s bathroom because he had not bought anything.

The two men – who are best friends and business partners – say they were surprised when police showed up. The officers asked them to leave the store, but they again refused. They told the officers they had done nothing wrong.

“We were there for a real reason, a real deal that we were working on,” Robinson told the Associated Press of the planned business meeting that never happened. “We put in a lot of time, energy, effort.”

As he was taken to jail, Robinson said he thought about his loved ones and how his day had quickly taken an unexpected turn.

Nelson said he even wondered about the possibility of not making it home alive. “Anytime I’m encountered by cops, I can honestly say it’s a thought that runs through my mind,” he said. “You never know what’s going to happen.”

In the video, the men show no physical resistance to arrest. At least two witnesses in the video can be heard saying they did not see the men do anything that would be cause for the arrests.

Officials regret incident

Philadelphia’s mayor, Jim Kenney, said what happened at the Starbucks “appears to exemplify what racial discrimination looks like in 2018." Kenney is white and a member of the Democratic Party.

Philadelphia Police Commissioner³ Richard Ross, who is black, first said in a Facebook post days after the incident that the officers “had legal standing” to make the arrests. He said that his officers “did absolutely nothing wrong” and had followed all police department policies.

But on Thursday, Ross said he should have said the officers “acted within the scope of the law, and not that they didn’t do anything wrong.”

At a news conference, Ross said he had “failed miserably” in his earlier comments about the arrests. He also said the police department did not have a clear policy before for dealing⁴ with such situations. He said a new policy will be released soon.

Nelson and Robinson were released from jail later that night after Starbucks decided⁵ not to press charges for trespassing⁷.

A lawyer working for the two men accused police of illegally profiling them. He said such profiling violates the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which bans discrimination based on race in hotels, restaurants, theaters and other public places.

Starbucks apology

The Starbucks company has said the location where the arrests took place has a policy that restrooms are to be used only by people who have bought something.

Starbucks chief Kevin Johnson offered in a statement the company’s “deepest apologies” to the two men. He said the incident had resulted in a “reprehensible⁸ outcome.”

Johnson said the company is fully⁹ investigating the incident and promised to make any needed policy changes to prevent the situation from happening again. In his statement, Johnson said, “Starbucks stands firmly against discrimination or racial profiling.”

Johnson also met with Nelson and Robinson. The two men say they are in ongoing¹⁰ discussions with Starbucks to push for changes at the company.

Among the changes they are proposing is the posting in stores of a customer bill of rights. They also want Starbucks to create new policies on customer removals. In addition, they have called for independent investigations¹¹ into accusations¹² of racial profiling and racial discrimination from customers and employees.

Robinson said he welcomes the public support he and his friend have received. But he added that he does not believe that anger and boycotts¹³ of Starbucks will truly solve the problem.

“We need a different type of action... not words,” Robinson said. “It’s a time to pay attention and understand what’s really going on. We do want a seat at the table,” he added.

I’m Bryan Lynn.

Words in This Story

racial profiling – v. to form an opinion about a person based on their skin color or ethnic¹⁴ background

encounter – v. to meet someone without expecting or intending

scope – n. the area that is included in or dealt with by something

miserable¹⁵ – adj. very bad

exemplify – v. to be or give a typical example of something

trespass⁶ – v. to go or remain on someone’s land

reprehensible – adj. very bad, deserving strong criticism

customer – n. person who buys products or services

a seat at the table – expression. a position as a member of a group that makes decisions

1 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

2 boycott   

n./v.(联合)抵制，拒绝参与

参考例句：

• We put the production under a boycott.我们联合抵制该商品。
• The boycott lasts a year until the Victoria board permitsreturn.这个抗争持续了一年直到维多利亚教育局妥协为止。

3 commissioner   

n.（政府厅、局、处等部门）专员，长官，委员

参考例句：

• The commissioner has issued a warrant for her arrest.专员发出了对她的逮捕令。
• He was tapped for police commissioner.他被任命为警务处长。

4 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

5 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

6 trespass   

n./v.侵犯，闯入私人领地

参考例句：

• The fishing boat was seized for its trespass into restricted waters.渔船因非法侵入受限制水域而被扣押。
• The court sentenced him to a fine for trespass.法庭以侵害罪对他判以罚款。

7 trespassing   

[法]非法入侵

参考例句：

• He told me I was trespassing on private land. 他说我在擅闯私人土地。
• Don't come trespassing on my land again. 别再闯入我的地界了。

8 reprehensible   

adj.该受责备的

参考例句：

• Lying is not seen as being morally reprehensible in any strong way.人们并不把撒谎当作一件应该大加谴责的事儿。
• It was reprehensible of him to be so disloyal.他如此不忠，应受谴责。

9 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

10 ongoing   

adj.进行中的，前进的

参考例句：

• The problem is ongoing.这个问题尚未解决。
• The issues raised in the report relate directly to Age Concern's ongoing work in this area.报告中提出的问题与“关心老人”组织在这方面正在做的工作有直接的关系。

11 investigations   

（正式的）调查( investigation的名词复数 )； 侦查； 科学研究； 学术研究

参考例句：

• His investigations were intensive and thorough but revealed nothing. 他进行了深入彻底的调查，但没有发现什么。
• He often sent them out to make investigations. 他常常派他们出去作调查。

12 accusations   

n.指责( accusation的名词复数 )；指控；控告；（被告发、控告的）罪名

参考例句：

• There were accusations of plagiarism. 曾有过关于剽窃的指控。
• He remained unruffled by their accusations. 对于他们的指控他处之泰然。

13 boycotts   

（对某事物的）抵制( boycott的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Their methods included boycotts and court action, supplemented by'sit-ins". 他们的主要方法包括联合抵制、法庭起诉，还附带进行静坐抗议。
• Are boycotts for other purposes illegal? 至于用于其它目的的联合抵制行动是否也是非法的呢？

14 ethnic   

adj.人种的，种族的，异教徒的

参考例句：

• This music would sound more ethnic if you played it in steel drums.如果你用钢鼓演奏，这首乐曲将更具民族特色。
• The plan is likely only to aggravate ethnic frictions.这一方案很有可能只会加剧种族冲突。

15 miserable   

adj.悲惨的，痛苦的；可怜的，糟糕的

参考例句：

• It was miserable of you to make fun of him.你取笑他，这是可耻的。
• Her past life was miserable.她过去的生活很苦。