Can You Train People To Be Less Prejudiced?
The Inquiry
BBC
4.6 • 1.7K Ratings
🗓️ 21 June 2018
⏱️ 23 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Donte Robinson and Rashon Nelson were waiting to meet a business associate in Starbucks. After two minutes, the store manager called the police and the African-American men were removed from the café in handcuffs.
The Starbucks CEO has described the incident as “racial profiling”, claiming that the manager acted on unconscious racial bias. In response, he closed 8,000 branches of the coffee giant so his staff could attend anti-bias training.
It’s not just Starbucks - diversity training, such as this, has become a multi-million dollar global business. On this week’s Inquiry, we examine why these biases are so ingrained and what we can do to eradicate them.
(Photo: Two little boys on the grass. Credit: Shutterstock)
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | You're listening to the inquiry on the BBC World Service with me Helen Grady. |
| 0:05.1 | Each week we bring you four expert witnesses answering one pressing question from the news. In April, two men went into a coffee shop in Philadelphia. |
| 0:15.0 | They were early for a business meeting, so they sat down to wait. |
| 0:30.0 | Two minutes later, the store manager called the police. |
| 0:33.4 | I have two gentlemen on my cafe. |
| 0:35.2 | They're refusing to make a purchase or leave. |
| 0:38.5 | Dante Robinson and Rishon Nelson had explained that they didn't want to order until their colleague arrived. |
| 0:47.0 | When he did, he found the police forcibly removing them from the Starbucks branch in handcuffs. |
| 0:53.4 | What did they do? |
| 0:55.0 | So why did the store manager |
| 0:59.0 | so why did the store manager think they were up to no good. |
| 1:05.0 | Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz thinks it's because they're black. |
| 1:09.0 | I think you have to say and looking at the tape that she demonstrated her own level of |
| 1:15.8 | unconscious bias and in looking at the tape you ask yourself whether or not that in |
| 1:20.4 | fact was racial profile. |
| 1:29.0 | The Starbucks boss has put his money where his mouth is, closing 8,000 stores for one day, |
| 1:31.0 | so staff could attend anti-bias training. |
| 1:35.0 | Other organisations are rolling out similar workshops. |
| 1:38.0 | They're keen to make sure that all staff and customers are treated fairly. |
| 1:43.6 | But do these programs work? |
| 1:48.0 | Can you train people to be less prejudiced. Part one, back to school. |
| 1:57.0 | You have to be |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from BBC, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of BBC and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.