Serving People Serving Coffee Since 2005
Issue link: http://baristamagazine.epubxp.com/i/853621
that we must be exempt from hurting other people. However, sys- temic oppression is ingrained in us; each one of us carries misogy- nistic, racist, homophobic, transphobic, ablistic, and classist ideas that seep out in our words and actions. When exploitation is baked into our society, torturous marginalization and injustice is seen as acceptable, even customary, just like segregation was 53 years ago. Endorsing this global problem with our inactivity is unacceptable. We coff ee professionals are already good at being unconventional, and dismantling patriarchal white-supremacist capitalism is the most unconventional thing one can do. Truly inclusive spaces specifi cally let me know that I'll be supported when that familiar discrimination comes around. Truly inclusive spaces don't use the cisgender heterosexual white male perspective as the universal default. Truly inclusive spaces acknowl- edge that I, as a queer, white, androgynous woman, face a diff erent set of oppressions than a black man or a disabled immigrant. Truly inclusive spaces seek to dismember harmful ideology instead of reforming the current model. Remember how we as an industry had to educate our customers on macchiatos? Customers didn't understand our defi nition of the drink, and it became a widespread conversation we all have had. Perhaps customers wanted an Italian-style macchiato with stiff foam on a ristretto espresso, or they wanted a large sweet drink with fl avor. We even built the best responses to this question and others like it into our training programs. Through these actions over time, we've shifted the culture to understand and respect us. Today, we communicate with our customers about macchiatos more easily because of the work that baristas before us put in. We still get the question, but customers are much more receptive to the beverage we are willing to give them. This is the work we must start doing in our cafés and workplaces around implicit bias, discrimination, and exploitation. Before we can address our customers' microaggres- sions, we must address them within ourselves. Imagine that you have to deal with a "macchiato interaction" constantly—not just with customers, but also within your work- place, out in the world, in your family, and in your home. Imagine that the blacker, queerer, more feminine, more disabled, and poorer you are increases the number of interactions you have to deal with everyday. This is why women and femmes in coff ee succeed less. This is why the specialty-coff ee industry remains a white space. Our community loves to innovate. We are often looking for the next technology, systems, or service methods to improve on. Specialty coff ee needs to sink its teeth into destroying the barriers to true inclusion. We need industry standards of anti-harassment procedures for our café staff s. We need guidelines on hiring and promoting practices that specifi cally teach how to take racial and gender bias out of the process completely. We need to change the way we design and market our product so we're not sending signals that our cafés and industry are white spaces. We need to change our pricing structure so we can pay our baristas much more instead of treating them like a disposable workforce. We need to mandate continued community involvement. We need to prioritize existing communi- ties over wealthy transplants. These things are not going to be easy or comfortable. Then again, neither was convincing a second-wave market that specialty coff ee was worth drinking and paying for. COFFEEHOUSES HAVE, FOR CENTURIES, been seen as places for communities to gather, and as places where ideas, concerns, and issues can be discussed openly and freely. I was drawn to be a part of that story, so six years ago, my wife and I opened a coffee shop in a little town called Canyon, Texas. Can- yon has a population of 12,000 with a college campus that adds an additional 8,000 students. Canyon, however, is not a college town—it's a town that has college, but it's a somewhat divided community. We saw a need to create a space for everyone in that community to coexist. When I was growing up in the conservative Texas Panhandle, it bothered me when I saw someone that didn't feel they had a place to belong. I believe everyone is valuable, and when they're encour- aged, challenged, and supported, they can do amazing things. It naturally followed, then, to open a business in an industry known for its inclusivity and openness—an industry where diff erences are not only welcomed and supported, but celebrated. We knew that if they could see and interact with one another, our customers and staff would recognize that no matter a person's background, viewpoint, race, or sexuality, that everyone is valuable. Everyone deserves a place to belong, and everyone deserves kind- ness. By creating a space where everyone feels valued and safe, and helping connect those people in our shops, we've been able to see a community come together, support each other, and grow. Funda- mentally, we would not have been able to accom- plish this if we had chosen to bring our personal politics and viewpoints into our café. Let's start with the elephant in the room: The purpose of a business is to make money and thereby provide income for yourself, your family, and your staff . Business owners then should be cautious about using their business as a platform to promote personal and political views. It doesn't matter how great your product or community is, or even if your viewpoint is right: If customers stop coming, you'll have to shut the doors. As we work to create a respectful, inclusive, and successful coff ee shop in a conservative area of the country, we believe our actions and our attitudes can be an eff ective example of the society we want to live in, and that our deeds and customer service can PATRICK BURNS by 75 www.baristamagazine.com