Actress Thandie Newton Calls Out Starbucks for Store Display of Black Child in Loincloth

Actress Thandie Newton was shocked and dismayed when she happened upon an offensive display at a Starbucks located in the Soho section of London. Sitting on the counter was a statue of a little black boy, dressed in a loincloth and holding a basket of coffee beans.

The actress immediately tweeted the Starbucks corporate account with a picture of the statue:

Seriously @Starbucks? At the counter – Loin cloth and Safari hat on a black child. Happy New Year circa 19th century pic.twitter.com/kD3qgKmti1

— Thandiwe Newton (@ThandiweNewton) January 4, 2016

After Newton tweeted the photo to her followers and the company, others chimed in on the social media site:

https://twitter.com/livingsatya/status/684794941097132032 https://twitter.com/perfecthow/status/684719007560282113

The company immediately took action and responded to Newton’s tweet.

@thandienewton we are very concerned to learn of this incident & we can’t apologise enough. We have removed the figure & are investigating.

— Starbucks Care (@StarbucksCare) January 5, 2016

“We are very concerned to learn of this incident & we can’t apologi[z]e enough. We have removed the figure & are investigating,” Starbucks tweeted.

One has to wonder how many other people complained to Starbucks, or the store employees, about the statue.