Starbucks is set to close 8,000 of its stores nationwide on Tuesday for employee “racial-bias education.”
The company said up to 180,000 employees will receive training from a "tool kit" that will "focus on understanding prejudice and the history of public accommodations in the United States."
The move came in response to an arrest of two African American men at a Philadelphia Starbucks last month. The men, who said they were waiting for a friend, were arrested for trespassing and taken away in handcuffs.
Is the anti-bias training the answer to such incidents of racial discrimination? While Starbucks thinks so, some critics question the very idea of implicit bias -- and whether this kind of training is effective.
For a preview of the curriculum Starbucks is planning to share with its employees on Tuesday, click here.
Hal Arkes, professor emeritus of psychology at Ohio State University who has done research on the topic of implicit bias