Generally speaking, conservatives have trepidation in talking about race. This is because any conservative who talks about race is eventually called a racist, and nobody likes being called that. But conservatives should be making a very simple and important argument about racism that they are all too often too cowed to make: It’s irrational. Judging a person on the basis of his or her skin color makes no rational sense, and we should never do it. Full stop.

My concern is that on this day of racial education Starbucks has planned, this vital message won’t be sent. Instead, employees, baristas, partners, or whatever term is of the moment, will be sold a bill of goods about privilege theory and embracing difference that blames the evil of American society rather than one bad actor.

This matters because the bad actor, in this case the Starbucks manager who has been fired and may or may not have violated company policy, acted within a broader cultural scope. This was the Starbucks in Rittenhouse Square, a place where original WASPs laugh at people who think they are WASPs. Removing two black men from those premises obviously sends a racist message and the company is wise to address it.