“Woke” cancel culture suffered a recent defeat when Ohio’s 9th District Court of Appeals ruled in favor of Gibson’s Bakery, a family owned bakery who was libeled by Oberlin College and falsely accused of racism.
The recent verdict stemmed from a 2016 incident when a bakery employee and son of the owner confronted a Black shoplifter who had stolen alcohol from the store. The shoplifter and his companions then attacked the employee. The assailants were later arrested and plead guilty, but the backlash to Gibson’s Bakery was swift from nearby Oberlin College, a notoriously liberal campus in Northeast Ohio.
Students protested by handing out fliers accusing the bakery of being a “racist establishment with a long account of racial profiling and discrimination,” despite having no evidence. Oberlin officials including then Dean of Students Meredith Raimondo supported the protests while the liberal media was quick to elevate the “racist” narrative. The Oberlin Student Senate passed a resolution condemning Gibson’s Bakery, which was blasted to the entire student body and publicly posted on campus. The College then tried to put the bakery out of business by encouraging a boycott and cutting ties with Gibson’s, dropping its products from campus after a long partnership.
Business was crippled, employees were let go, the family was smeared, and a lifetime of work was reduced to the Left’s crazed social justice mob mentality.
While we can take comfort that truth and law and order have prevailed, it does not make up for the millions of dollars lost and years of harassment a proud, family-owned business was forced to endure. Sadly, the store owners and lead Plaintiffs didn’t live long enough to see the verdict upheld in Court, but their fight demonstrates an important lesson in standing up to the lunacy of the Left.
Democrats claim to be the Party of tolerance – unless of course your view is different from theirs. They are the Party of Cancel Culture – though never mind the facts or evidence. They’re the Party that treats criminals with respect and deference, but law-abiding citizens and businesses as the bad guys.
We’ve seen this play out time and again. From Jussie Smollett’s manufactured hate crime, to the slanderous attacks on the Covington Catholic School kids, to the complete circus Democrats put Justice Brett Kavanaugh through, or the defamation of Kyle Rittenhouse as a “white supremacist,” Democrats’ social justice mob attacks first and asks questions later.
This is why I’m going to Washington to fight these antics and stand up for reason and due process. It’s why we need elected leaders like me who have the guts to treat criminals like criminals and police officers like the heroes they are.
This case also demonstrates the need for an education disruption in America. Our colleges have long become liberal bastions, but this indoctrination has begun to seep in our schools earlier and earlier. One of my primary goals in the United States Senate will be to ensure our schools, from elementary to college, are focused on reading, writing and long division, not reading, writing and racial division. We should be educating students and preparing them to be the next generation of engineers, tradesmen or computer scientists, not indoctrinating them to be a generation of social justice warriors. That is how China will get ahead while America falls behind.
To combat this, as Ohio’s next United States Senator, I’ll work to pass legislation ensuring that not a single dime of federal money goes to schools that promote Critical Race Theory or other like-minded ideologies. Instead, schools should be rewarded for focusing on the fundamentals of a good education and workforce development. I’ll also fight for transparency and school choice so that parents are in the driver’s seat of their children’s health and education, not federal bureaucrats and politicians.
As the U.S. Senator from Ohio, I will always be on the side of the baker who is running their small business. The police officer who keeps our streets safe. The parent fighting for a good education for their child. And the America where common sense and decency prevail over mob mentality.
Jane Timken is a candidate for the United States Senate. She was the former Chairwoman of the Ohio Republican Party.