I remember an old fable about a child who befriended a snake. Despite all the love given the snake, one day it bit the child. The dying child asked the snake why it did this; from what I recall of the story, the snake simply answered, “What did you expect from me? After all, I am a snake.”

I can’t seem to get that fable out of my head as I read about the ongoing racial discrimination hysteria against the Starbucks Corp. From what I’ve read, this hysteria was triggered by one manager in only one of its over 27,000 stores worldwide.

This manager asked police to evict a couple of men, who happened to be black, because they appeared to be loitering in the store. What baffles me is: Why didn’t these men simply explain that they were waiting for someone and thus prevent this affair from escalating into an arrest?

I can’t think of any corporation that has spent more effort and money to advance the furtherance of racial harmony than Starbucks. You would think that civil-rights activists would call for calm, citing all of Starbucks’ past efforts toward this cause. But no – all you hear from activists are cries for demonstrations and boycotts against Starbucks. Even the poison pen of Leonard Pitts, whose syndicated column is published in the Portland Press Herald, was quick to use this incident to again shame all of America for its perceived racism.

Now Starbucks is again going to be spending millions to have racial-sensitivity training for all employees in order to appease these activists. Doesn’t Starbucks realize it is again befriending snakes that have bitten them once and will most likely bite again if it serves their purpose of stirring up racial hatred in America?

Ted Sirois

Saco