In Portland, two employees lost their job at a bakery for denying service to a black woman after closing time.
Following the incident, “Back To Eden Bakery” issued several public apologies. In one Facebook post, the bakery’s co-owner wrote, “We are doing business in a gentrified neighborhood in a racist city within a racist state of a racist country.”
The incident sounds all-too-similar to the Starbucks situation, where a manager called the police on two black men who wanted to use the restroom and refused to buy something. Here’s how ABC local described the incident:
In one statement, “Back To Eden Bakery” says that according to its own surveillance video, a black woman named “Lillian,” who is well known in the area as a “professional equity activist,” entered at 9:06 p.m., after the bakery’s closing time. Employees had also turned off the “Open” sign, but several customers (all white) who had already ordered were still inside. Two other white women who went to the bakery two minutes before “Lillian,” and were also informed that the business was closed for the night.
The bakery says “Lillian” left the store briefly and began recording video.
So, because “Lillian” could not accept that perhaps some customers dealt with employees who were more relaxed on the rules, two employees have now lost their jobs for following business protocol. In the bakery’s own statement, the employees were not fired for being racist or for violating any rules, but because “sometimes impact outweighs intent.”
Translation: Social justice matters more than actual justice. Or better yet, feelings matter more than facts.
The bakery also said the employees “lacked sensitivity and understanding of the racial implications at work.”
What were the employees supposed to do? The woman came to the establishment demanding special treatment and somehow they were the ones who lacked sensitivity and understanding. “Lillian” certainly has no sensitivity or understanding, considering that she was the one who publicly called for their firing.
In another statement, the bakery even admitted the employees did nothing wrong, saying “this is more about how a black woman was made to feel” at the business.