Starbucks former CEO, Howard Schultz, joined the growing choir of CEOs denouncing the neo-Nazi hatred, in an impassioned speech to employees about the violence in Charlottesville, Virginia.
‘I come to you as an American, as a Jew, as a parent, as a grandparent’ Schultz opened to his employees Thursday during the company forum titled ‘Hate has no home here.’
‘I know we are better than this,’ Schultz told the crowd of over 1,500 at the Starbucks Support Center in Seattle.
As he spoke, he passed around a rock he brought from back from a trip to Auschwitz concentration camp in Poland.
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Starbucks former CEO and executive chairman, speaking to employees during a forum titled ‘Hate has no home here’ Thursday
More than 1,500 employees attended the event held at the Starbucks Support Center in Seattle
Schultz, who stepped down as Starbucks CEO in December to take on the role of executive chair with a focus on the company’s social impact, continued to express his consternation for the future of America after the weekend of violence in Charlottesville.
‘I come to you with profound, profound concern about the lack of character, morality, humanity and what this might mean for young children and young generations that are growing up at a time in which we are imprinting them with levels of behaviors and conduct that are beneath the United States of America’
He did not attack President Donald Trump’s response directly, but said he would let his actions and words speak for themselves.
Several CEOs from JP Morgan Chase to GE, have been vocal, rebuking Trump for his remarks asserting that there were ‘very fine people’ on all sides at the white nationalist rally in Charlottesville.
Schultz also said he fears what he calls the ‘normalized’ behavior of people who previously before would hide their faces under white hoods.
‘We’ve all seen pictures of the KKK in the South … they were hiding because they were afraid to be outed. People are no longer afraid.’
White nationalist rally in Charlottesville Va turned deadly Saturday when a car ran into a crowd of counter protesters
Schultz told the rapt audience that ‘we are at a critical juncture in American history’ as the values and what the country’s stands for, hangs ‘in the abyss.’
‘What we witnessed this past weekend…is against every sense of what is right.’
However, Schultz maintained during the somber company forum, that he remains optimistic about the future, and implored his employees to do what they can to affect positive change.
‘It is hard in the midst of such a storm to maintain an optimistic view. But I raise my hand, and I say I am optimistic about our country and the true promise of America.’