“Social justice” has lost a round to actual justice.
On Friday, an Ohio jury ordered Oberlin College to pay $11 million in damages to a local bakery it wrongly smeared as “racist.” The lawsuit stemmed from a 2016 incident in which three Oberlin students were arrested for attempting to “steal wine or otherwise illegally obtain wine” from Gibson’s Bakery. Such behavior is commonplace on college campuses and if the story ended there would likely have attracted little attention. But because the students in question were black, the social justice warriors in the Oberlin administration leapt into action.
Oberlin Vice President and Dean of Students Meredith Raimondo coordinated a protest with other deans, professors, and students in front of the bakery at which they “handed out hundreds of copies” of a flier that accused the bakery’s owners of racially profiling and discriminating against the students. “This is a RACIST establishment,” the flier read, “with a LONG ACCOUNT of RACIAL PROFILING and DISCRIMINATION. DON’T BUY.” The flier also listed ten of the bakery’s competitors and encouraged students to patronize them instead. Later that month, the college cut all business ties with Gibson’s Bakery.
Nine months later, the truth caught up with the leftist college administrators’ narrative. In August 2017, the students pled guilty to attempted theft and aggravated trespass, according to court documents. “This unfortunate incident was triggered by an attempt to purchase alcohol,” one student admitted. “I believe the employees of Gibson’s actions were not racially motivated. They were merely trying to prevent an underage sale.” The students’ overdue honesty offered little consolation to the bakery’s owners, whose business had long since cratered thanks to the college’s persistent campaign of defamation and boycotts.
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