The P. C. Police Invade Portland

It’s not just Starbucks that has succumbed to P. C. bullying. America’s junior Red Guards have escaped from their campus cages and are running wild in American cities. Naturally, this happens in the most progressive “woke” cities, places like Portland, OR.

Andy Ngo reports on some recent incidents in the Wall Street Journal. They speak for themselves:

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.

And also:

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.

Just in case you wondering about the rationale, Ngo continues:

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.”

And, of course, an incident at a bakery reminds us of what happened in that Philadelphia Starbucks. It turns out, a black customer wanted to be served after a bakery had closed. She was refused service and decided that she was singled out for being black. It did not cross her mind that being black does not mean that you do not have to play by the rules.

Here is what happened:

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.”

It takes very little in a progressive city to produce paroxysms of guilt in white people who have done nothing wrong.

And then, of course, there was Reparations Happy Hour:

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. 

Don’t worry. They’re coming for you next.