Equal Treatment

Like a lot of people, I've been reading about the case of the two black guys who were arrested at a Philadelphia Starbucks store because they asked to use the bathroom at the store even though they hadn't bought anything and then refused to leave the store. I was very near this particular Starbucks store when I visited Philly last summer and met some friends for lunch at a restaurant near Rittenhouse Square. I'm not surprised the cops were called on these two guys especially given the location. That's a high-rent area of Philly and there aren't a lot of non-white folks living around there. (There are non-white folks working in the area though.) I have no problem with a store enforcing a policy that allows paying customers to use their bathroom facilities. I also have no problem with a store asking people to leave if they're loitering for a long amount of time (even though the Philly guys were only in the store for less than 15 minutes). No one should go to Starbucks or any other coffee shop and just take up space for paying customers. However, if you're going to have a policy like that, then enforce it against everyone, not just black folks. Kick out the white women, Asian men, Latinas, red-headed stepchildren, whoever if those people aren't paying customers. If two white dudes were hanging out in a Starbucks and wanted to use the bathroom but didn't buy anything, call the cops on them too. Equal treatment!