Barista Magazine

AUG-SEP 2017

Serving People Serving Coffee Since 2005

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WHAT IS SEEN AS POLITICAL changes from era to era. What was once seen as being political is now a non-issue. Social progress, like desegregation of schools and restaurants, doesn't just naturally happen over time, however, but unfolds amid intense social pres- sure when large numbers of people refuse to accept the standard. That is why it is imperative to talk about social issues at play in our cafés and workplaces that are seen as political. We in the specialty-coff ee industry love to congratulate our- selves on working in a progressive industry. We color and cut our hair in nonconforming ways; we work o eat hours and love it; we show our tattoos without fear that we will be taken less seriously; and in many places, we have earned status as professional crafts- people working with an exceptional product that should and does fetch the high prices coff ee and great service are worth. We throw around words like inclusivity and diversity to describe ourselves as if we have achieved a higher state of enlightenment and can just focus on the coff ee. However, we are premature. We have a long way to go, and if we are truly going to be an industry where everyone is welcomed, hired, promoted, and crowned U.S. Barista Champion, then we are going to have to get "political." The history of the coff ee shop has a long legacy of discrim- ination. In the London coff eehouses of the 1700 and 1800s, respectable (privileged) women were not allowed in. Women were only welcomed as prostitutes to service the customers, who were all men. It should go without saying that almost every man in the coff eehouses was white. More recently in our history, cafés were specifi cally "whites only" spaces. In 1942, a young black man named James Farmer walked into a coff ee shop in Chicago to buy a doughnut, but the counterman was unwilling to provide black people the same service that he gave to his white customers. The manager called the police when James Farmer and his friends conducted a peaceful sit-in. Although our coff ee shops do not promote such overtly discriminating policies today, we still have not dismantled the legacy of those policies. Is it any wonder that working women and femmes still feel on display, and that their bodies are part of the transaction? Is it any wonder that specialty coff ee is seen as a white activity, and that people of color feel gawked at and unwel- comed? Is it any wonder that we still call the police when an "undesirable" home- less person wants to buy coff ee and use the bathroom? Most of us can say that a goal we have in our industry is to not let anyone feel isolated. We want a space that feels inclusive for everyone. One might think that the best way to do this is to simply omit all things controversial so that the coff ee shop can be a seem- ingly neutral space. However, when I walk outside into the world as a queer woman, I am read as being political. My existence becomes controversial. Whenever I spend time with my partner outdoors, we are at risk of harassment, disdaining looks, fetishization, and vio- lence. Because there is so much hate and fear around us, our lives have been corralled by legislation. Oppressive judgments of who I am in the world are present in the café. When most people avoid taking a stance, no amount of customer-service training will result in true inclusivity. The idea that being political is just about opinions, and aren't based on real-life encounters, is rooted in privilege. What ends up happening in "neutral" or "nonpolitical" spaces is the complacency of the dominant oppressive culture. When we don't specifi cally craft a space to be any one way, the default set- ting is patriarchal white-supremacist capitalism. We as an industry have underestimated the systematic overlapping power structure and how it presents itself in our cafés. It's really tempting to think that since as individuals we are kind, empathetic, and open-minded EDITOR'S NOTE: Welcome to the third installment of "Split Shot," a feature we've developed to give coff ee professionals a forum for discussion on hot-button topics in our industry. We envision "Split Shot" evolving organically, as you, our readers, see fi t. Want to respond to Jasper's and Patrick's arguments on whether to bring politics into the café or not, the topic for this installment? Great! Want to suggest another topic for debate? Awesome! All of the above is welcome and encouraged. Just email splitshot@baristamagazine.com, and we'll take it from there. Illustrations by Phil Markel JASPER WILDE by SHOT SPLIT Two Takes on Politics in the Café 74 barista magazine

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