By Mahmoud El-Yousseph
A week ago, a 19-year-old by the name of Aisha was on her way to her job as a home care worker when stopped to order a drink at Starbucks operated by the Midway Target store in St. Paul. The young Muslim woman was horrified when the server handed her the drink with the name of infamous terrorist organization “ISIS” written on her cup.
Aisha, who declined to give her last name out of concerns for her safety, said she had to spell her name twice to the barista to avoid any mix up. Aisha, who wears the hijab, later said at a press conference that she felt “humiliated, enraged, and belittled.”
Aisha, who attend college and lives in Minneapolis demanded an explanation and was told by the server that she is “overreacting.” Not satisfied, she asked to speak to the manager. A Target manager on the scene asked her, “what is the issue?” That was a misunderstanding and it promise it will not happen again. He obviously sided with the server instead of taking a proper action. Whatever happened to the golden customer service rules that said “customer is always right, and ” never argue with a customers.”
This is by no means the first time that Starbucks harass Muslim customers. Last year USA Today reported about a Philadelphia Starbucks in which employee also wrote “ISIS” on the drink cup of a Muslim customer. Starbucks called the incident a “regrettable mistake.” Calling a Muslims ISIS is derogatory and insulting. It is no difference than referring to a black person with the “N” word. Muslim should not be a fair game.
So let’s send a very simple message to Starbucks, quit harassing Muslim customers because prejudice and discrimination only hurt the victim.
