Funny Portland bakery fires employees for denying black woman service after closing

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1. Why is Back to Eden censoring its Facebook page?

Our business is under full assault by the Alt-Right and people fueled by their own white supremacy. We have been getting hundreds of calls, emails, DM’s, negative reviews and vitriolic comments from people all over the globe with no connection to Portland or our business. The original post was removed because the number of trolls that were flocking to it was more than we could effectively manage. We took screenshots and know that many others did as well. These comments are not simply critical of our actions (we can handle that) but they are meant to be intimidating and dehumanizing to everyone involved. Our employees and the community that is attempting to support and/or actually dialogue with us is feeling unsafe and we have an obligation to them. We are anti-censorship and support everyone’s freedom of speech but will not allow any of our platforms to be a repository of hate.

2. Why is the Alt-Right targeting Back to Eden specifically?

We were mentioned in an article about Brown Hope that linked back to our page and
brought attention to the fact that we fired two white employees for denying service to a Black woman. Unwilling to look at the facts of the situation the Alt-Right is coming to the defense of white people assuming that we are “anti-white”.

3. Did Back to Eden fire two employees for simply following policy?

No. They were fired because they made a poor customer service decision to apply the 9pm closing time more stringently to a Black woman but not equally to the other white customers that were present. Back to Eden’s closing policy has always been “greet everyone who comes to our door warmly and make them feel welcome and appreciated”. Our employees did not do that.

4. Were the two white women that also entered after the Open sign was turned off served?

Yes. They were greeted warmly, told that we were closing but that we could happily serve them if they took their items to go. The Black woman that walked in one minute later was not given the same customer service. She was simply told over a crowd of white people enjoying their treats “we are closed. We can’t serve you”. After that, the two white customers were allowed to remain in the store casually chatting over the counter for an additional 10 minutes after all the other customers had left the premises. Camera footage shows all of this.

5. Does Back to Eden expect its employees to give preferential treatment based on race?

No. Back to Eden has a no tolerance policy for discrimination of any kind and is unequivocally anti-racist.

6. Are Back to Eden employees expected to work overtime or late in order to accommodate anyone visiting after hours?

No. Closing shifts are scheduled under 8 hours to allow for flexibility so they can stay an extra few minutes if needed. They are paid for this time and this policy has always been well understood.

7. Did Back to Eden call the former employees “racist”?

No. We have no way of knowing what their motivation was for enforcing the closing time unequally. One employee was on their last day of a 3-day trial period, hired in an Assistant Manager position and that was their first executive decision. The other employee had been previously warned about making customers feel unwelcome. They made a customer service call that had racial implications and the level of implicit bias was something we could not ignore.

8. Are the employees going to sue for wrongful termination?

No. We were in our legal right to terminate their employment and stand by our decision. The former employees understood why they were being fired and everyone parted emotionally but amicably.

9. What is Back to Eden doing to prevent discrimination moving forward?

We have made all of our policies even more clear. We are scheduling Diversity, Equity and Inclusivity training as well as Anti-Racism training (specifically focused on Anti-Blackness) with professional equity educators. Our team is organizing around how to lean even further into our mission of truly creating inclusive spaces for community to gather around inclusive food.

10. Did Back to Eden hire a white guy to deal with a racism problem?

No. We hired a business consultant for temporary management support to help us stay on track during this difficult time. He is a long time business colleague who was brought on to advise the ownership on how to navigate the current crisis and moreover to chart a path for our company moving forward. We have 40 employees dependent on the jobs we provide and we are committed to their safety and well being. As stated above, we are contracting with professionals for the Racial Equity Education.

11. Did Back to Eden commit to hosting the Brown Hope Reparations Happy Hour before or after the incident?

Weeks before. We have always stood firmly in support of Black, Brown and Indigenous communities and believe that reparations are an important conversation for us as a society to be having. We believe in Brown Hope’s mission and will continue to support it however we can.

To those who continue to show us support we thank you! <3 Back to Eden Bakery
 
BlazerDuckSeahawkFan94 said:
1. Why is Back to Eden censoring its Facebook page?

Our business is under full assault by the Alt-Right and people fueled by their own white supremacy. We have been getting hundreds of calls, emails, DM’s, negative reviews and vitriolic comments from people all over the globe with no connection to Portland or our business. The original post was removed because the number of trolls that were flocking to it was more than we could effectively manage. We took screenshots and know that many others did as well. These comments are not simply critical of our actions (we can handle that) but they are meant to be intimidating and dehumanizing to everyone involved. Our employees and the community that is attempting to support and/or actually dialogue with us is feeling unsafe and we have an obligation to them. We are anti-censorship and support everyone’s freedom of speech but will not allow any of our platforms to be a repository of hate.

2. Why is the Alt-Right targeting Back to Eden specifically?

We were mentioned in an article about Brown Hope that linked back to our page and
brought attention to the fact that we fired two white employees for denying service to a Black woman. Unwilling to look at the facts of the situation the Alt-Right is coming to the defense of white people assuming that we are “anti-white”.

3. Did Back to Eden fire two employees for simply following policy?

No. They were fired because they made a poor customer service decision to apply the 9pm closing time more stringently to a Black woman but not equally to the other white customers that were present. Back to Eden’s closing policy has always been “greet everyone who comes to our door warmly and make them feel welcome and appreciated”. Our employees did not do that.

4. Were the two white women that also entered after the Open sign was turned off served?

Yes. They were greeted warmly, told that we were closing but that we could happily serve them if they took their items to go. The Black woman that walked in one minute later was not given the same customer service. She was simply told over a crowd of white people enjoying their treats “we are closed. We can’t serve you”. After that, the two white customers were allowed to remain in the store casually chatting over the counter for an additional 10 minutes after all the other customers had left the premises. Camera footage shows all of this.

5. Does Back to Eden expect its employees to give preferential treatment based on race?

No. Back to Eden has a no tolerance policy for discrimination of any kind and is unequivocally anti-racist.

6. Are Back to Eden employees expected to work overtime or late in order to accommodate anyone visiting after hours?

No. Closing shifts are scheduled under 8 hours to allow for flexibility so they can stay an extra few minutes if needed. They are paid for this time and this policy has always been well understood.

7. Did Back to Eden call the former employees “racist”?

No. We have no way of knowing what their motivation was for enforcing the closing time unequally. One employee was on their last day of a 3-day trial period, hired in an Assistant Manager position and that was their first executive decision. The other employee had been previously warned about making customers feel unwelcome. They made a customer service call that had racial implications and the level of implicit bias was something we could not ignore.

8. Are the employees going to sue for wrongful termination?

No. We were in our legal right to terminate their employment and stand by our decision. The former employees understood why they were being fired and everyone parted emotionally but amicably.

9. What is Back to Eden doing to prevent discrimination moving forward?

We have made all of our policies even more clear. We are scheduling Diversity, Equity and Inclusivity training as well as Anti-Racism training (specifically focused on Anti-Blackness) with professional equity educators. Our team is organizing around how to lean even further into our mission of truly creating inclusive spaces for community to gather around inclusive food.

10. Did Back to Eden hire a white guy to deal with a racism problem?

No. We hired a business consultant for temporary management support to help us stay on track during this difficult time. He is a long time business colleague who was brought on to advise the ownership on how to navigate the current crisis and moreover to chart a path for our company moving forward. We have 40 employees dependent on the jobs we provide and we are committed to their safety and well being. As stated above, we are contracting with professionals for the Racial Equity Education.

11. Did Back to Eden commit to hosting the Brown Hope Reparations Happy Hour before or after the incident?

Weeks before. We have always stood firmly in support of Black, Brown and Indigenous communities and believe that reparations are an important conversation for us as a society to be having. We believe in Brown Hope’s mission and will continue to support it however we can.

To those who continue to show us support we thank you! <3 Back to Eden Bakery
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So, if the article is correct and this is really from the same people when were they lying?
 
This thread makes me hungry. Did he answer the rumor that the shop refuses to sell vanilla doughnuts?
 
MarAzul said:
I see @Chris Craig hit the like button on this censoring. I wonder if he would like to explain why?
Click to expand...

I hit the like button because @Strenuus did his job as a mod, no ifs ands or buts about it. You were trying to rile a certain poster up and it wasn't going to go anywhere productive. You guys keep complaining that a certain poster doesnt get called out when he goes over the line. (He in fact does) Then you keep trying to bait him into a verbal warfare. So I'm not liking @Strenuus post because he is censoring you. I'm liking it cause he sees you are up to your old tricks and he's stepping on the fuse before its gets explosive. Good for him.
 
MarAzul said:
I see. Well it was censoring. No rule was broken, so it was censoring without an infraction. But I must admit, it amuses me, that you liked it.
Click to expand...

So lets play this out and see how you spin it, since that's what you seem to do.

I let it stay: the poster sees it and begins a dialogue that will not end well for both parties, based on the history of the two posters interactions.

The part that I took out was meant to bait, there is no other way around it. I let it stay, then people ask why it wasn't taken out because it was clearly meant to rile.

I take it away, and I get this.

See where it doesn't matter what I do? Someone is always going to get upset. So you know what I did? I ended it before it could get started. So if that bugs you, well then that is a problem you're going to have to talk about with yourself. That's a you problem thinking it's a me problem.

The best part about the whole thing is you never discredited the notion that it was baiting. So, in fact, without evidence to the contrary, it is baiting. And baiting leads to personal insults, so.... am I not in a way taking away the personal insults before it happens based on the trajectory of conversations I've witnessed? Being proactive is a GOOD thing.

And don't quote one little thing out of context. Respond to the whole thing, I would greatly appreciate it all in context.

I do not regret my decision, and stand by it 100% given the history.
 
Chris Craig said:
I hit the like button because @Strenuus did his job as a mod, no ifs ands or buts about it. You were trying to rile a certain poster up and it wasn't going to go anywhere productive. You guys keep complaining that a certain poster doesnt get called out when he goes over the line. (He in fact does) Then you keep trying to bait him into a verbal warfare. So I'm not liking @Strenuus post because he is censoring you. I'm liking it cause he sees you are up to your old tricks and he's stepping on the fuse before its gets explosive. Good for him.
Click to expand...
Notice I liked this post....I'm not telling anyone why...I like chocolate as well
 
Strenuus said:
So lets play this out and see how you spin it, since that's what you seem to do.

I let it stay: the poster sees it and begins a dialogue that will not end well for both parties, based on the history of the two posters interactions.

The part that I took out was meant to bait, there is no other way around it. I let it stay, then people ask why it wasn't taken out because it was clearly meant to rile.

I take it away, and I get this.

See where it doesn't matter what I do? Someone is always going to get upset. So you know what I did? I ended it before it could get started. So if that bugs you, well then that is a problem you're going to have to talk about with yourself. That's a you problem thinking it's a me problem.

The best part about the whole thing is you never discredited the notion that it was baiting. So, in fact, without evidence to the contrary, it is baiting. And baiting leads to personal insults, so.... am I not in a way taking away the personal insults before it happens based on the trajectory of conversations I've witnessed? Being proactive is a GOOD thing.

And don't quote one little thing out of context. Respond to the whole thing, I would greatly appreciate it all in context.

I do not regret my decision, and stand by it 100% given the history.
Click to expand...
Funny thing. The first movie I thought of when you admit to stopping personal insults BEFORE they happen is Minority Report.

We have the Pre Crime bureau come to life.
 
riverman said:
You shall for here on out be known on S2 as the "like" monitor.....another checked box for Chris Craig..
Click to expand...
He ain't the only one who judges by likes. I baited dviss with that 30 times and I had to keep telling him not to judge by likes.

Fuck, I can't put a number on how many times I've liked posts of both people going after each other.
 
https://www.wsj.com/articles/would-you-like-some-strife-with-your-meal-1527807733

My hometown became a foodie paradise starting a decade or so ago, when I lived in California. At first it was beautiful. With each visit home, I noticed new food carts selling everything from Korean tacos and Thai-Hainanese chicken and rice to Texas-style pulled pork. Later came breweries, exotic doughnut shops and haute-hipster ice-cream parlors.

But these days politics is ruining the scene. One of the first victims, Sally Krantz, in 2016 opened a bistro, Saffron Colonial, featuring historical recipes from the British Empire. Furious social-justice warriors accused her of racism and glorifying colonialism. Mobs gathered outside the establishment, and detractors swamped its Yelp page with negative reviews and insults. Suppliers boycotted her. Eventually Ms. Krantz gave in and changed the name to British Overseas Restaurant Corporation.

Blood was in the water. In the spring of 2017, Kali Wilgus and Liz Connelly were accused of “stealing” Mexican culture—by selling burritos from a truck. They received death threats and shut down their business and their social-media presence.

Then an anonymous Google spreadsheet began circulating warning about restaurants that served ethnic cuisine: “These white-owned businesses hamper the ability for POC”—people of color—“to run successful businesses of their own . . . by either consuming market share with their attempt at authenticity or by modifying foods to market to white palates.”

Last month Lillian Green, an “equity director” at the state Education Department, entered Back to Eden, a vegan bakery, a few minutes after closing time. She recorded videos accusing the bakery of refusing to serve her because she was black. Using the hashtag #LivingWhileBlack, Ms. Green—a doctoral student at Lewis and Clark College—took to Facebook to demand that Back to Eden fire the clerks.

The bakery obliged, issued a 3,400-word apology, and offered Ms. Green a job training the remaining employees in “racial inclusivity.” “In this situation it doesn’t really matter that the two staff members working are not themselves racist because the call they made to deny Lillian service caused her to feel like she had been discriminated against,” co-owner Joe Blomgren wrote in a now-deleted Facebook statement. “Sometimes impact outweighs intent and when that happens people do need to be held accountable.”

Last week the Backyard Social tavern hosted a “Reparations Happy Hour,” during which “Black, Brown, and Indigenous people” were each given $10 and a drink paid for by white donors—who were asked not to attend. When conservative college students do something similar under the rubric of an “affirmative-action bake sale,” they are typically condemned as racist and shut down. Cameron Whitten, who organized the hour, told the New York Times that, in the paper’s paraphrase, “it made attendees feel as if their pain were valued and understood.”

When I was growing up here, I adored the city’s unofficial slogan, “Keep Portland weird.” Nowadays it leaves a bad taste in my mouth.
Click to expand...
 
I literally feel dumber after reading both of his responses. At what point did the word "closed" change it's meaning?
 
BlazerDuckSeahawkFan94 said:
When a black woman gets mad apparently.
Click to expand...

In no way am I saying there isn't cases of legit racism, but it's shit like this that makes it seem trivial and gives credence to those who say it doesn't happen.

Granted, didn't read everything about this case and haven't seen the video footage, but were they screaming the N word, or were like "MAGA, BITCH! GO BACK TO YOUR HOME COUNTRY! GOD MADE ADAM AND EVE, NOT ADAM AND STEVE!!"

Wait, that last one wouldn't make sense.

Anyway, it seems that if you are always crying wolf, no one will believe you when there is a wolf.
 
julius said:
In no way am I saying there isn't cases of legit racism, but it's shit like this that makes it seem trivial and gives credence to those who say it doesn't happen.

Granted, didn't read everything about this case and haven't seen the video footage, but where they screaming the N word, or were like "MAGA, BITCH! GO BACK TO YOUR HOME COUNTRY! GOD MADE ADAM AND EVE, NOT ADAM AND STEVE!!"

Wait, that last one wouldn't make sense.

Anyway, it seems that if you are always crying wolf, no one will believe you when there is a wolf.
Click to expand...
You just nailed in on the head. This level of “activism” and guilt is getting fucking ridiculous.
 
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