When you think of Starbucks, you generally think of overpriced coffee and forced hipness, not Klan members sans bed sheets. But just the other day I learned that the KKK is alive and well in America's favorite coffee house. I very rarely go into Starby's since I'm not a coffee drinker, but every once in awhile I'm willing to pony up a week's pay for a hot chocolate or strawberries & cream frappaccino. This past Tuesday, the day after MLK day as it turns out, was one of those days.
I stopped in the 3rd Ave and 23rd St 'Bucks, one of the 3 located on 23rd St between 3rd & 6th Aves in Manhattan. This one is rather small...only about 5 tables or so. I ordered a HC and moved to the designated spot to await my drink. Behind me, at a small table by the front window, a man and woman, both white, both probably in their late 30s to mid-40s are sitting and conversing just as a zillion men & women are sitting and conversing in Starbucks across the world. They're both dressed fairly well...the man in a nice button down shirt and slacks, the woman in a black suit and a faux fur hat. Neither person's head is shaved and there are no visible white supremacy tattoos. Of course, I just glimpsed in their direction...I didn't actually investigate.
Not exactly sure what they were talking about, but I overhead the guy saying "....that f**king jew c**t at the DA's office."
Now, of course, my ears prick up at this little burst of racial bias laced with profanity...not because I'm Jewish, but because I'm standing in a cozy Starbucks on a nice, sunny, Tuesday morning awaiting a cup of HC.
The guy asks the woman, "You got any jews at the office?"
"No Jews, just n*****s and sp*cs," she says nonchalantly.
This is one of the most bizarre things I've ever encountered. Not that I don't know there's blatant racism out there each and every day, it was just the context of the situation that floored me...that these two people, both seemingly "ordinary" if there is such a thing, are sitting there having a "normal" conversation on a Tuesday morning in a fairly small downtown Manhattan coffee shop filled with Asians and blacks and latinos and myself, a Jew married to a latino, mere footsteps away.
All I could do was get my HC and shake my head. Sure Starbucks is trendy, but since when did racial slurring over morning coffee become the hip thing to do?
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1 comment:
That story is insane! Why would racists choose to live in NYC of all places? It's sad to see that intolerance anywhere - but you just don't expect in the "melting pot" of NY.
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