Your Local Coffee Shop Is Racist and Ageist
A cashless coffee shop on the state line between Maryland — where cash free establishments are legal — and D.C., where they are prohibited.
Have you ever run outside for a quick coffee only to realize that you left your wallet at home? For many of us, that’s not an issue. We use Apple Pay without a second thought at cash-free coffee shops. We barely use credit cards, much less cash. We couldn’t give spare change to a person in need if we wanted to—we don’t carry it.
For many, it’s been years since we’ve searched pockets for crumpled bills or quarters to pay for a coffee. Maybe it’s just as well. The price of everything has gone up and the morning rush would slow to a crawl if baristas had to wait for an elderly person to dig through their purse for exact change.
We don’t need cash; we have credit cards and bank accounts, smart phones and mobile payment apps. We don’t need spare change, we aren’t unhoused. So if its not a problem for us, cash free establishments can’t be a problem for anyone else, right?
Let’s get into it.
“For older adults of color, especially - not only is it increasingly difficult to keep a roof over their heads, it’s also getting harder to keep participating in their communities.”
Why are so many coffee shops cash-free?
Did you know that the concept of a cashless (or “card only”) coffee shop is rooted in ageism and racism? Not only that, the cash free movement is part of a much larger effort to gentrify historically Black and Brown working class neighborhoods.
For many, the arrival of the cash-free coffee shop represents a net negative. You know the type—cookie cutter, industrial aesthetic; bland food; and $8 lattes. By the time they show up, rent prices are already out of control. If you see a Whole Foods, Trader Joe’s and hot yoga studio on the same block, it’s game over.
When we talk about gentrification, we tend to think about the exodus of Black and Brown residents who can no longer afford property taxes, rent or cost of living. However, gentrification is not only “reverse blockbusting” (i.e., buying homes from low-income elders of color or flipping rent-controlled apartments into “luxury condos”). Gentrification is also a campaign to “defamiliarize” or “alienate” long-time residents from the communities that they’ve poured into for generations.
For older adults of color, especially - not only is it increasingly difficult to keep a roof over their heads, it’s also getting harder to keep participating in their communities.
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Coffee shops - especially the newer ones going up in neighborhoods like Newark, Harlem, and Bedford-Stuyvesant - are great examples of establishments meant to alienate older, working-class residents from their own communities.
In the summer of 2021, while deciding on a career path, I took a gap year and worked as a barista (special shout out to all of my fellow humanities majors!). While there, I learned how drinks establishments intentionally curate their clientele through subtle design cues - one of which is their decision to accept, or not accept, cash.
The emergence of cash-free
Where did the idea of cashless coffee shops come from? According to a study conducted by Loomis, there’s a theory that cashless establishments are a way for employers to cut costs—especially as cards, phones (and palms?!) become incredibly efficient ways to conduct transactions.
But eliminating cash excludes a significant portion of Americans from accessing third places, like coffee shops. It is widely known that as of 2023, nearly 8.4 million US households are unbanked. This means they don’t keep their money in a bank or credit union. Another 10.26 million Black adults (24.7%) in the U.S. are “underbanked”; even if they have a bank account, they may use “alternative financial institutions” like check cashing stores to access their money. After all, some neighborhoods are underserved by banks and over served by payday loan centers offering predatory 400% interest rates.
According to U.S. Congressman Ritchie Torres,” people of color tend to have less access to credit and debit and therefore have a diminished ability to purchase goods and services in an increasingly cashless marketplace”(GQ).
Cashless establishments also tend to exclude immigrants with undocumented status — some of whom may not be able to access formal financial institutions which require a social security number to open a bank account. Cash-free businesses also exclude those who are on fixed incomes. Cash often allows seniors and disabled people on fixed income to budget and track spending in a way that credit cards don’t typically.
Finally, there is simply a preference for cash in certain communities, including older adults and some lower income households of color due to complex reasons, like mistrust of financial institutions, getting paid under the table, or engagement in underground economies.
“While there, I learned how drinks establishments intentionally curate their clientele through subtle design cues - one of which is their decision to accept, or not accept, cash.”
Let’s be good neighbors
There’s a stark contrast between being a neighbor and a gentrifier. A gentrifier expects the world to revolve around - and adapt to - them, but neighbors understand the importance of exchange and solidarity. Being a neighbor is about using your power and influence to make the world a better place for you - and someone else.
Shortly after cashless establishments arrived, many cities and states across the country introduced legislation to ban them. In fact, bans around the country have found bipartisan support. Philadelphia, San Francisco, New York City and Washington, D.C. were some of the first major metropolitan areas to ban cashless businesses. Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Kentucky, Maine, Massachusetts, Missouri, New York, both of the Carolinas, Ohio, Oklahoma and Tennessee have also passed bans.
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But even with these bans, there’s so much work to do. So many older Black and Brown residents of urban areas feel excluded from their own neighborhoods where their families have lived for generations. Even if they can afford to stay, working class communities are rapidly changing to cater to white transplants with higher salaries and more social and political capital. It’s not just cashless coffee shops, it’s hostile architecture that makes public spaces less welcoming; it’s private equity firms buying up rental properties and driving up housing costs; and Black and Brown elders losing access to their third places. It’s a loss of people, history and culture.
So what can you do today to make a difference? Carry cash, including spare change for the unhoused. Stop patronizing cashless establishments. Take your business elsewhere—like the family owned coffee shop or deli down the street—even if they don’t do expensive pour overs or seasonal drinks. Don’t rush the older woman counting out exact change at the grocery store. Even if you wish she’d use Apple Pay like everyone else so you could make it to Pilates, or pure barre or F45, or Orange Theory on time. Be a good neighbor.
We don’t need cash, we have credit cards and bank accounts, smart phones and mobile payment apps. We don’t need spare change, we aren’t unhoused. So if its not a problem for us, cash free establishments can’t be a problem for anyone else, right?