Starbucks baristas stop writing 'Race Together' on cups

Starbucks baristas will no longer write "Race Together" on customers' cups starting Sunday, ending the most visible component of a diversity and racial inequality campaign that sparked widespread criticism in the week since it took effect.

The coffee chain's initiative will continue without the handwritten messages, Starbucks spokesman Jim Olson said.

The cups were always "just the catalyst" for a larger conversation, and Starbucks will still hold discussion sessions, co-produce special sections in USA TODAY and put more stores in minority communities as part of the Race Together initiative, according to a company memo from CEO Howard Schultz.

The campaign has been criticized as opportunistic and inappropriate, coming in the wake of national protests over several recent police killings of unarmed black men. On social media, some questioned whether Starbucks workers could spark productive conversations about race while serving coffee.

“Does the #RaceTogether conversation include #Starbucks discussing its own racial diversity?” tweeted Colorlines, a news site focused on racial justice issues. It reported that 86 percent of the Starbucks corporate board is white, while 40 percent of its workers are black.

Other users tweeted that they didn't have time “to explain 400 years of oppression to you and still make my train,” and made puns on adding “extra whip” to their lattes.

In his memo, Schultz said he expected skepticism. “I know this hasn’t been easy for any of you — let me assure you that we didn’t expect universal praise,” Schultz wrote in a letter to staff and released by the company on Sunday. “We leaned in because we believed that starting this dialogue is what matters most.”

He said the campaign hopes to make sure that "the promise of the American Dream should be available to every person in this country, not just a select few."

Schultz said Starbucks plans more “Race Together” activities, including efforts to expand into urban neighborhoods and hire 10,000 “opportunity youth” over the next three years.

Al Jazeera and wire services