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Starbucks Training a First Step, Experts Say, in Facing Bias

by Associated Press

   Starbucks will close more than 8,000 stores nationwide Tuesday to
   conduct anti-bias training, the next of many steps the company is
   taking in an effort to restore its tarnished diversity-friendly image.
   The coffee chain's leaders reached out to bias training experts after
   the arrest of two black men at a Philadelphia Starbucks last month.
   The plan has brought attention to the little-known world of
   "unconscious bias training" used by corporations, police departments
   and other organizations. It's designed to get people to open up about
   implicit biases and stereotypes in encountering people of color, gender
   or other identities.
   A video previewing the training says it will include recorded remarks
   from Starbucks executives as well as rapper and activist Common. From
   there, the company says, employees will "move into a real and honest
   exploration of bias."