Culture Wars Besiege The Food Co-op
What’s going on at the Co-op? Has a local institution that has admirably served the community for over 50 years finally been exposed for being a secret cabal of racist, transphobic bigots?
That, I think, is what a few people are inviting us to believe. So they have taken to the Leader’s op/ed pages in recent months to hurl vague accusations because the power dynamics at the grocery store aren’t operating exactly as these people think that they should.
They’ve talked about “harm” being done to employees and shoppers, without providing evidence or description of said harm. They’ve listed the management’s shortcomings in the realm of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion — again without providing examples, and in the hope that we haven’t noticed that DEI has proven to be a somewhat problematic set of concepts that not just corporations and educational institutions are starting to reconsider, but which prominent black intellectuals like Glenn Loury of Brown University, John McWhorter of Columbia and author Coleman Hughes have for a long time openly criticized. For an excellent critique of these concepts, read McWhorter’s book, Woke Racism: How a New Religion has Betrayed Black America, or Hughes’ The End of Race Politics.
In a recent op/ed, Cameron Jones who is a leader of Black Lives Matter Jefferson County (BLMJC) — and who has been alleged to have demanded the removal of an Hispanic man from his BIPOC (Black, Indigenous and People of Color) yoga class because the man’s skin color was not quite dark enough for inclusion to this class — reiterated previous claims with the same lack of specificity.
He alleged “harm” but didn’t bother to detail the harm… or bother with the notion of evidence at all. He decried a lack of commitment to DEI and to community values without specifying examples. In short, he added to the smear campaign of Co-op leadership in a public format without evidence, perhaps hoping that he could persuade people to boycott the grocery store on the basis of his allegations alone.
Mr. Jones was forced off the board of The Food Co-op because a disagreement occurred between himself and the management.
Excerpt in The Food Co-op Board of Directors minutes book (available in the front of the store), from letter to BLMJC in 9/4/2024 meeting packet.
And now he wants you not to shop there until they satisfy his requirements that they are diverse, equitable, or inclusive enough.
Enough for whom? Well, Mr. Jones, of course — who has appointed himself the moral arbiter of Port Townsend.
If he can tell a man that his skin isn’t brown enough for BIPOC yoga, why can’t he tell a grocery store that they aren’t DEI enough?
As we all know, a cultural shift has happened over the past several years that has signaled that America hasn’t done enough to remedy deep-set racist, sexist, transphobic, or ableist attitudes and that people aren’t going to stand for it. Nor should we.
As Americans we can be proud to be living in the land of Frederick Douglass, MLK Jr., Harvey Milk, Elijah Cummings, Susan B. Anthony and so many others. We know we ain’t perfect, but we strive to be better.
For some people, striving to be better simply isn’t cutting it. This group demands that we adopt their views of the world, their way of communicating, and that we challenge power in the ways that they prescribe. In short, they demand adherence to an orthodoxy of their creation and when we don’t conform, we are accused of demonstrating serious moral shortcomings.
Who are these people?
Some — like Professor McWhorter — call them “woke,” or “identitarian.” They used to be called “politically correct.” They are a fundamentally illiberal movement. Regardless of the fact that we don’t seem to have an apt or well-fitting label for them at this time, I have observed that they seem to share similar hallmarks and can be detected by their methodology:
- Always focus on power differentials and view the world through the framework of oppression. There are only two types of people: the oppressed, and the oppressors. Use “victim” narratives as much as possible;
- Make everything about groups and not individuals. Make pronouncements about people based on their skin color, sexual orientation, gender etc. rather than the content of their character;
- Make vague accusations of harm (where those harmed are always members of a historically marginalized group). You needn’t bother with specific evidence because “words are violence”;
- Employ Mob Mentality: Use social media to try to get someone cancelled when they don’t adhere to your dogma;
- Appoint yourself as the authority on morality and virtuousness;
- Use diversity, equity, and inclusion as a cudgel you get to wield because your identity gives you insight that others don’t have so that you can demolish power structures and reorganize them according to your own values;
- Police other people’s language. Demand they use your vocabulary and prohibit them from speaking in ways you don’t approve;
- Rely on the collective guilt of gullible people to give your weak claims cover.
So, what’s actually happening at the Co-op?
You can’t really tell from all the accusations, recriminations, and moral bullying underway in the Leader and elsewhere, but for my money it seems pretty clear that someone with a particular ideological framework is attempting to force his views of the world onto other people who have different ideas in their head. And for the crime of thinking differently about notions of fairness, equity, justice, kindness, dignity and respect, this person is attempting to cancel them and/or get them fired, and enlisting any allies he can to do so.
Because their way of thinking — which is to say the old, liberal way of thinking — just isn’t good enough anymore. There is a new way of thinking now, an absolutist, intolerant morality that sees the ugliness in all of us, all of the time. It demands a purge of the old ideas, and it’s starting with a local grocery store.
Think about that for just a second. The culture wars have come to The Food Co-op.
As a public educator in a “progressive” school district, I’ve encountered these ideas frequently, and witnessed firsthand their impact on colleagues and students alike. While not yet a resident, I have property in Port Townsend, spend half of my summers with family in the area, and shop exclusively at the Co-op when I am there. I have a stake in the town and feel a deep connection to the place. I was moved to write because I feel what is happening to General Manager Kenna Eaton, the Co-op and the community is the result of really bad ideas finding a foothold in society.
In the end, regardless of what an asset it is to Port Townsend, the Co-op is simply a grocery store. If Mr. Jones wants to insist that others follow his moral instruction, then maybe he should aim his sights a bit higher and run for public office. Let the voters decide if they want to get embroiled in another round of identity-based politics. Good luck to him.