Alan at Blue Hole rips Oregonian columnist S. Renee Mitchell a new one over Mitchell's August 17th column and subsequent follow-up on Hillary Barnes, a former Starbucks manager.

15-second recap:

• Mitchell goes into a Starbucks and sees a chalkboard drawing with an afro-headed barista next to the words "I lubs me some Breakfast Blend. It's the juice that gets me goin'."

• Starbucks sees Mitchell's column and fires Barnes, who wrote the phrase on the chalkboard.

• Mitchell meets Barnes in person and discovers she's not a racist, the afro-headed barista pictured on the chalkboard is white, and Hillary "didn't deserve what she ended up with" after all.

What Alan at Blue Hole is so upset about:

It seems the ex-manager has a lot more decency, kindness, and brains. The most appalling thing about Mitchell's latest column is what's not in it: an apology. (Link)

Alan suggests Mitchell give Barnes her job. He even digs up this photo of Barnes at her former Starbucks in North Carolina, where she worked with the YWCA to let kids perform poetry in the store:

Looking at the comments on Mitchell's latest blog entry, plenty of others agree that Mitchell owes Barnes an apology.