Support Arthur Against Racism

My dear friend Arthur Sayos Arboleda was verbally accosted by a guest at Starbucks. She shouted racial slurs at him and nothing was done and police refused to make a report. This is extremely distressing to Arthur and his community due to the rise of Anti-Asian hate crimes. 

Arthur is now on a month of unpaid leave and I wanted to make sure he was supported as he lives off the money he makes from Starbucks. Silicon Valley is hard to live in and I worry for his loss of wages. *Any donations will go towards rent and bills. 

 Here is what happened in his own words

"I was taking my thirty when my barista called for me, saying a guest was being super aggressive to a group of our regulars. When I came outside, a woman without a mask was yelling out four of our regulars who were old men. I was worried for them because I don’t know which of them was vaccinated so not wanting to be a bystander, I got her attention. 

I told her she needed to leave immediately. She turned to me and instantly got very close to my face and started yelling. The whole time I could feel her saliva as she was yelling at me. She called me a dirty Korean over and over again, saying I didn’t belong in this country and said we should’ve been kept in camps. I tried to keep calm but I also thought about all of the potential guests she could be endangering by yelling this much. I took her outside and held the doors closed while a partner called for 911. 

The police came while she was still in visible view, but said there was nothing they can do. I asked to file a report. Me and an officer went into the store and discovered her name was in fact Karen. The officer the stated this wasn’t the first time she’s stirred trouble and has been called in for. The report was not made. 


I did not feel safe at work. The bystander effect shocked me, how I came in to defend these four vulnerable men, but in a cafe fill of people, I was alone. No one stopped her when she became aggressive towards me and started hurling anti Asian hate. No one recorded the scene for documentation other than the cameras showing me pushing the woman out of the store. 

My manager and district manager came to the conclusion that I needed to take a 30 leave of absence to figure out what my next steps are. This is helpful for me as well because of my anxiety and depression caused by this event."

Arthur has always been a loving, positive and resilient. He is the best friend a person can have and he cares deeply about his community. His friends are heartbroken that he had to experience racism at work and that he felt so alone in the moment. Thank you for listening to his story and donating. It means so so much, and it is much needed with his current circumstances. <3