<p>&#8220;Do you think your white privilege helped you get that job?&#8221; </p>
<p>That&#8217;s what one Starbucks barista asked me after I told her what I did for work. </p>
<p>Starbucks decided to stop writing &#8220;RACE TOGETHER&#8221; on all of their cups, but they continued their campaign by encouraging </p>
<p>employees to start conversations about race. I decided to visit a handful of nearby Starbucks locations to see exactly </p>
<p>what this was going to involve. I went during off-hours, in the late afternoon, hoping that the employees would have more </p>
<p>time to talk to me. I didn&#8217;t know what exactly to expect, but this was worse than I imagined- not to mention incredibly </p>
<p>awkward. </p>
<p>The first barista I encounterd was incredibly eager to do her part in Starbucks initiative to drag race into anything and </p>
<p>everything. I ordered an iced tea and stood near the pick up counter. Shortly, a college-aged barista with short hair dyed </p>
<p>black and an eyebrow ring came along to hand me my beverage. Noting my collared shirt and slacks, she asked me if I was on </p>
<p>my lunch break from work. </p>
<p>&#8220;Yes,&#8221; I replied. </p>
<p>&#8220;Where do you work?&#8221; she asked. </p>
<p>I indicated a nearby office building and told her that I&#8217;m the editor for a news site. </p>
<p>That&#8217;s when she asked if I thought I got that job due to white privilege. </p>
<p>Needless to say, I did not appreciate the insinuation that the only reason I&#8217;m employed in a professional job is because </p>
<p>I&#8217;m white. I actuality, I had met my CEO while I was interning for his attorney and impressed him with my writing skills. </p>
<p>&#8220;Actually,&#8221; I told her, &#8220;I think I got the job because I&#8217;m good at it and I have a degree in political science.&#8221; </p>
<p>This seemed to stump her for a moment. She thought about it, and then replied, &#8220;Did you know that black children are less </p>
<p>likely to go to college, because of institutional poverty where their parents can&#8217;t afford to pay for it?&#8221;</p>
<p>This line really ticked me off- she was making assumptions about me because of my race. </p>
<p>&#8220;Actually,&#8221; I said, &#8220;I worked my way through college, while taking care of my younger sibling because my parents were on </p>
<p>drugs. It&#8217;s not like I grew up rich.&#8221; </p>
<p>At that point, I think she gave up. She just sort of muttered, &#8220;Well, it&#8217;s still easier when you&#8217;re white,&#8221; and disapeared </p>
<p>into the back. </p>
<p>The barista at the second Starbucks I visited was much less enthusiastic about the campaign. Getting him to talk about </p>
<p>race was like pulling teeth. He was older, probably in his late thirties, and looked bored. When he handed me my coffee, I </p>
<p>asked him, &#8220;So how exactly are you guys going about starting conversations about race?&#8221; </p>
<p>I could tell by the look on his face that he had just about had it with this campaign. </p>
<p>&#8220;There&#8217;s a pamphlet,&#8221; he replied. &#8220;It&#8217;s going to have questions like, &#8216;have your views on race evolved from your parents?&#8217; </p>
<p>and stuff.&#8221; </p>
<p>At that moment, a new customer appeared at the counter and he practically teleported to her to escape the conversation. </p>
<p>The third Starbucks was another story entirely. I&#8217;ll cover what happened there in part two. </p>