A Muslim teenager in the US has spoken out about being left feeling "humiliated, enraged, and belittled" by staff at a branch of Starbucks after a barista wrote her name as 'Isis' on her order.
Nineteen-year-old Aishah - who has only disclosed her first name for safety reasons - says she ordered the beverage on July 1 at a branch of Starbucks located inside a Target in St. Paul, Minnesota.
More on this story in the video below:As is standard practice for the coffee house giants, Aishah stared to provide her name to the staff after giving her order. However, Aishah - who was wearing a hijab at the time - said that even before she had provided her full name, she noticed staff writing something on her cup.
When she received her order, she found that staff had written 'Isis' on her order - believing it to be an Islamaphic message referring to the commonly used acronym for the Islamic State terrorist group, ISIS.
After raising the issue with the staff, a Target manager on-site defended the barista, saying: "What's the issue? People get their names wrong all the time."
Speaking at a press conference held at the Minnesota chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations' (CAIR-MN) offices in Minneapolis, Aishah said: "I felt humiliated, I felt enraged, I felt belittled."
She added: "When I first received the drink I was in shock that in this day and age something like this could be written."
Per TwinCities.com, civil rights attorney Alec Shaw, right, said he working with Aishah to file a complaint with the Minnesota Department of Human Rights.
As a result of the insulting order, many people have taken to social media to show their support for Aishah, and call for people to stop spending their money at Starbucks.
One Twitter user wrote: "@Starbucks need to start putting some respect on a #Muslim name literally, this is the second time a #Starbucks employee in USA wrote ISIS on the cup of a Muslim costumer, instead of the correct name. If they don't stop their #Islamophobia behavior, then stop giving them your money [sic]".
Indeed, this is not the first time Starbucks staff have been accused of writing 'ISIS' on the order of a Muslim customer:In a statement to Sahan Journal, Target has apologized for the incident which it called an "unfortunate mistake" and that the barista "has never heard of ISIS". The statement added:
"We are very sorry for this guest’s experience at our store and immediately apologized to her when she made our store leaders aware of the situation.
"We have investigated the matter and believe that it was not a deliberate act but an unfortunate mistake that could have been avoided with a simple clarification. We’re taking appropriate actions with the team member, including additional training, to ensure this does not occur again."
However, Aishah does not believe the store has done enough. Also speaking to the Sahan Journal, she said: "I felt a lot of emotions because we’re at a time when people are protesting injustice all over."
The teenager explained how she has been taking part in Black Lives Matter protests following the deaths of Philando Castile and George Floyd, adding: "All these protests and all these people who are using their voice for a change. To me, it felt like in that moment, we're doing all of this for people who don’t even care, or who are going to look the other way."
As a result, Aishah and CAIR-MN say they want a true apology - calling for both the barista and manager to be fired, a thorough vetting of employees, and an in-depth training process for all employees.
