Kate Hawkesby: Roseanne, racism and choosing values over profit

Racism's back on the agenda in the United States - we've got Starbucks closing 8000 cafes for staff to have training to prevent racial bias and we've got the Roseanne show cancelled by ABC.

Starbucks is seeking to repair its damaged reputation after two black men were accused of trespassing in a Philadelphia cafe. This led to the extraordinary move of shutting all the Starbucks stores so that employees could go through a four-hour 'understanding racial bias' session.

It's perhaps something ABC could've schooled Roseanne Barr on, before having to cancel her show after a racist Twitter rant by the actress. In a series of tweets, she attacked Valerie Jarrett, Chelsea Clinton and George Soros.

ABC described the tweets as abhorrent, repugnant, and inconsistent with its values.

The network decided it was ethically untenable to keep her and her show.

Cancelling her show shocked Hollywood, mainly because it showed enough moral aptitude to put values over money - which may be a first for a US TV network - but the decision elicited an overwhelmingly positive response.

What's highlighted here, and in the Starbucks case, is again how the actions of a few can affect so many. Roseanne's sitcom cancellation affects her yes, but more importantly, the cast and crew also lose out.

The next season was already in pre-production after a hugely high rating first season.
That dream is now over for everyone involved.

Likewise, the decision made at a singular Starbucks in Philadelphia, has gone on to impact 8000 of the cafes and 175,000 employees. Staff who may not have had a racist bone in their body are now undergoing hours of anti-bias training thanks to someone else's behaviour.

This all serves as a good reminder that we are responsible in our conduct not just to ourselves, but also to each other. In this verbally hateful society, we need to make sure the measures meted out are fair across the board though.

The same people who applauded the axing of Roseanne were possibly the same people not offended by the name calling indulged in by a comedian at the recent White House Correspondents dinner.

If we are to stamp out bullying, racism and toxic verbal abuse, we need to make sure it's across the board. We are living in times of greater accountability, more political correctness and a heightened awareness of publicly acceptable behaviour. But we also continue to be tribal and political in how we scale these views.

When it comes to racism and bullying, there shouldn't be a scale.

Be it Trump, Roseanne, a Starbucks employee or a comedian, the measure should be the same.