Thursday, September 16, 2010

Boycott Qathra!

This new cafe in the neighborhood does not have a single person of color working there. Are they trying to tell us that there wasn't a single minority in the neighborhood qualified that they could hire.

This is gentrification in full effect and it is destroying our neighborhood.

16 comments:

  1. have any trained baristas who happen to be of color submitted their resumes? check on that first before jumping to conclusions. the place opened up two days ago and has only 2 baristas so far. clearly its going to need an army of about 5 or 6 to handle the crowds. so whoever has the skills should submit a resume. not sure if you've ever worked in cafes before, but often when places like this start up they open first with a tiny staff (usually with people they know already) then slowly bring on more staff as/if needed according to how busy the cafe becomes.
    its owned by an egyptian fyi.

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  2. Qathra. Owned by an Egyptian? You mean a muslim.

    Does he support the construction of the mosque at Ground Zero?

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  3. when i was there this morning there were three latino men working behind the counter. pretty sure they count as minorities.

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  4. do you know this from your own experience? did you walk in and ask about anyone not working today? did you still order coffee?

    I got a coffee and a croissant and they were delicious.

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  5. Honey, you really need to do something about that chip on your shoulder. Why must everything be about race? Aren't there enough other things to be angry about?

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  6. The owner is from Egypt. Last time I check that was in Africa. Does the definition of "color" always have to be so narrow? I don't hear Pakistanis, Dominicans, Asians, Senegalese, etc. complaining. It's time to put away our overuse of the racist card unless appropriate and choose our battles (I can think of more serious issues affecting the black community) Thia place just opened and you're already making unneccesary accusations.

    It's a nice addition to the neighborhood and may become diverse over time but still not the most important thing. Of course feel free to disagree and boycott.

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  7. Crop to Cup helps coffee grower families in countries in Africa survive and sustain themselves. That's more than this blog does and that's the type of coffee they serve at Qathra and deserves to be mentioned but wasn't. Who's the bad guy in this scenario now.
    This blog is as "Fair and balanced" as Fox News.

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  8. I do not have a chip on my shoulder. I am just making an observation from my own experience.

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  9. but you dont have any experience? you're calling for a boycott without having patroned the store.

    I think what you meant to say is "I am just making up an observation from my own madeup experience." Yeah that sounds better. No need to thank me for the correction.

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  10. I think you have a chip on your shoulder as well. Something you might want to take a look at.

    1) The owner is not only non-white, but an amazingly nice guy.

    2) Last I looked, of the four people working at the cafe, HALF were "of color".

    3) The counter staff so far is excellent. You really care that you came in one day and "all two of them" were white?

    If you don't like the place, no worries. A place you might prefer is Heights Coffee - which has had all black staff every time I'm in there. Sad thing about their staff though - they're the least friendly, least communicative cafe staff I've seen at any independently owned coffee shop in NY.

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  11. Actually she has a point. I've seen this in Purple Yam which has an almost all white waitstaff as well as most of the restaurants in Ditmas Park.

    http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/03/31/racial-bias-seen-in-hiring-of-waiters/

    ReplyDelete
  12. I don't even know how this is even an issue. It's been very well documented.


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    Rinku Sen
    Rinku Sen

    Rinku Sen is Executive Director of Applied Research Center and Publisher of ColorLines.
    Posted: April 2, 2009 01:39 PM
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    Racism Stinks Up New York Restaurants
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    On Tuesday, I spoke at the release of The Great Service Divide, a revealing new study of racial discrimination segregation in New York City's restaurant industry. The Restaurant Opportunities Center of New York (ROC-NY), which I wrote about in The Accidental American, sent matched pairs of applicants -- one white, one of color and virtually the same in every other way -- to apply for front of the house jobs in 327 high-end restaurants.

    The predictable results are still shocking. The people of color were half as likely to get offers, and less likely to get interviewed in the first place. The interviews of white applicants were more work focused and less skeptical about the truth of their resumés. The vast majority of managers were white males. Hence, we see the path to the racial hierarchy of restaurants, obvious to all who choose to look.
    http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rinku-sen/racism-stinks-up-new-york_b_182376.html

    ReplyDelete
  13. Dear Eloise
    I think its truly awful that you would ask for a boycott of a new place after one observation in a brand new establishment. Im a cafe owner and I can attest that in the beginning its usually you and your friends/family working until you have additional capital and can gain a true sense of how busy a place will be.
    The economy currently is terrible and is not supportive of small business. Ditmas park needs more places like this and I think its the type of neighborhood that can welcome a place with open minds and hearts so here's to those people.
    shame on you

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  14. This is completely ridiculous to boycott a place that has so much soul and passion and good taste... By the way the owner is extremely friendly guy and his wife is jewish!
    Sadly enough, for some people to say something without any research, knowledge, geography or a basic human morals, is considered to be a freedom of speech... Ridiculous!!! Learn first!

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  15. I know it absolutely ridiculous to react to a post two-years after the fact, but this somehow upset me knowing Yasser and how hard he works for people of all races. I am African by the way, just like the owner of the cafe. Oh Eloise seriously, have you stepped into the cafe and seen the pictures...
    not to mention crop to cup coffee...

    Yes, two years later and I find it ridiculous that you even thought of posting this.

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  16. seven years later, i stumbled upon this page... i understand the racial biases and gentrification in this neighborhood, but this person accuses totally wrong target... now max=yasser habib succeeded, opened milk & honey and sold qathra. he is there from 6~7am to 8pm, every day, even without x’mas or thanksgiving break. i don't know why some people don't use the energy to attack the tue wrong...by the way, i wonder if this person even knows the meaning of "qathra" - it means "dirty" in everyday arabic. ignorance, coped with unnessesary hostility due to one's personal frustrtion and jelousy is trully annoying...

    ReplyDelete