BX pop-up coffee shop Mix opens as social experiment on racial identity

A pop-up coffee shop in the Bronx asks customers to identify themselves by race when they place their orders. Rather than call out your name, the baristas at Mix then shout out your selected racial

News 12 Staff

May 4, 2014, 2:17 AM

Updated 3,810 days ago

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A pop-up coffee shop in the Bronx asks customers to identify themselves by race when they place their orders.
Rather than call out your name, the baristas at Mix then shout out your selected racial identity when your beverage is ready. Vernicia Colon thought up the idea for the pop-up shop as part of her senior thesis at Parsons The New School for Design.
With names like mulatto, half-breed and mutt, some may find the drink options offensive, but Colon says that's the point.
"Everyone needs to feel like they have a place in this society and I just wanted to present a conversation and people can take it where they want to take it," said Colon.
Mix is only supposed to be a three-day social experiment, but due to the positive reaction its gotten, Colon is working on possibly making it a permanent fixture.