Who could have thought that a mall-based, mediocre bakery would become a flashpoint for America’s continuing struggle with racial issues? No doubt you have heard of what will forever be known as the “Ashwaubenon Cinnabon Incident” or seen the viral on-line video of an employee hurling racial epithets and exchanging threats with a Somali couple at the Bay Park Square Mall earlier this month. What should have been a simple transaction involving cinnamon rolls turned into ugliness that some fear paints all of Northeast Wisconsin in an unflattering light.
What hasn’t been reported as much is what led to the taped part of the confrontation. Apparently, the Somali woman that placed the order asked the employee to put more caramel on her roll–to which the worker replied “You can see I’m squeezing it through your witchcraft bandana”–referring to the hijab being worn by the Muslim woman. From that, further insults ensued, and we caught the tail-end of it in the posted video. The employee–Crystal Wilsey–was fired after the video spread like wildfire over the weekend.
I’d like to point out that immigrant groups like Somalis are often criticized for failing to “assimilate” to American ways of life. But what is more “American” than buying crappy junk food at the mall, asking for extra toppings without having to pay for it, then whipping out your cellphone to record someone you think you can get fired by being disrespectful to you and immediately posting it to social media? We don’t see the Somali couple in the video itself, but I’m assuming they were shopping in their pajama bottoms and were going to wash down that caramel roll with an $8 cup of coffee. (Although, now that I think about it, a “real American” would have had the roll delivered by DoorDash or UberEats for five dollars more than it cost to buy it in person at the mall.)
What many people are asking in the comment sections of stories on the video are “How could someone be so willing to admit they are a racist?” And there is hand-wringing over how all of the “education” that has been done in the George Floyd Era appears to have gone to waste if “people like this can act so brazenly”.
First, let me say that I thought that Step 1 to “becoming ‘anti-racist'” is to admit you are a racist–despite how you may act and think. Usually, that admission is followed by a Mao Cultural Revolution-like struggle session where you apologize for things you are in no way responsible for and pledge to adhere to the party line for thought and expression for the rest of your life.
But for someone like Crystal Wilsey, it becomes easy and comfortable to wear the title of “racist” when it’s likely everything that she enjoys in life has been given that designation in recent years. The politicians she votes for are “racist”. The lyrics to her favorite country music song are “racist”. The church she attends is “racist”. The news network she watches every night is “racist”. Even the cast of her favorite cable holiday movie–set in a small, up-state Vermont town–is “racist”.
In an ironic twist to this story, it comes at a time when the Somali community in the Twin Cities is in the spotlight for widespread welfare fraud. Multiple reports have found that Minnesota state investigators were dissuaded from looking into the dubious claims to be “feeding children” during the pandemic coming from Somali organizations, because advocates for that community claimed it would be “racist” to verify that many kids were being served every day–while also threatening to sue the state for discrimination. And what member of the Democratic Farm Labor Party wants to be called a “racist”? One billion dollars later………..
America’s “Great Awakening” has led to the use of a new phrase: “If everything is racist, then nothing is racist”. Think about the power that word used to hold. Half the reason OJ Simpson walked around as a free man for decades after killing his wife was that his defense–led by a Black attorney–effectively painted one of the investigators as a “racist” that was just looking to punish a rich, famous, African-American man. Today, we still all know the name of Mark Fuhrman.
But since then, applying the same term to things like expecting employees to show up on time, math, enjoying the outdoors, assigning homework in school, bird watching, highways, and using proper grammar leads people to start ignoring you–and the word is devalued in society. So much so that those probably spending a little bit too much time on social media start to wear it as a badge of honor.
Personally, I’m most offended by the grift that has followed this incident. Again, showing “assimilation”, a man claiming to be a cousin of the Somali couple set up a GoFundMe campaign for them to “pay for legal fees”. I’m pretty sure the ACLU and multiple other advocacy groups would be more than happy to pick up the cost of any legal actions the couple might take, making sure they get the associated publicity and the potential access to the deep pockets of Cinnabon’s parent company, so I’m not sure exactly how that money will actually be used. And of course, people of a similar ilk have set up an on-line fundraiser for Crystal Wilsey to “help her through this difficult time” following her termination.
These on-line fundraisers have become an unofficial “scoreboard” to see who is “winning” this confrontation. As of today, Wilsey is overwhelmingly “ahead”–having raised more than 160-thousand dollars compared to the 16-thousand donated to the Somali couple. And that just further fans the flames of the situation.
Of course, politicians are looking to make as much hay as possible from this too. Green Bay Mayor Eric Genrich held a press conference with leaders of every advocacy group in the region to denounce what happened. It should be noted, again, that this incident occurred in Ashwaubenon–not Green Bay (although, Wilsey’s last reported address was in the city). So one could argue the Mayor is stepping outside of his jurisdiction. Representative Amaad Rivera-Wagner also spoke–even though the 90th Assembly District doesn’t cover any of Ashwaubenon. I’d like to see some Ashwaubenon village officials show up at a new business announcement in downtown Green Bay and try to claim some credit for it in the future. And you can bet that all of the organizations represented at that press conference sent out emails to their financial supporters asking for more cash to “help fight” people like Wilsey.
This situation is also creating some collateral damage. There have been several police scanner reports this week of people going to the mall to harass the other employees of the same Cinnabon. The reports do not note if the harassers were upset about the way the Somali couple was treated and are lobbing around more accusations of racism–or if supporters of the fired employee are yelling about how “woke” cinnamon rolls are now.
In the meantime, I’m going to continue to make my own cinnamon rolls at home instead of going to the shopping mall to get them. Of course, since South Asians were “exploited” by Portugese, Danish, and English colonialists to bring the spice to my European ancestors that probably an act of racism too.
