Jose Flores was released from Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody Saturday. He is with his wife and family.
I am very relieved for this family. I hope they have every opportunity to heal and recover.
Somehow Oakmont Bakery keeps making it about them, centering their business as the true victims in this story. It almost masterful how they hoodwink so many Pittsburghers and haven’t uttered a single word of regret, remorse, or accountability for propping the MAGA regime or their Nazi bootlickers.
Instead, they point fingers to ‘social media commentets’ calling for a boycott. I haven’t seen that. I do see a lot of nuanced dissection of how a pro-MAGA business paved the way for Mr. Flores to be abducted. And then paved the way for him to be freed.
The TribLive journalists are doing a disservice by not providing links to the sources of these boycott calls. Vague allegations should be substantiated, not published as fact by what is soon to be a leading voice in the region’s mediascape.
What is the #OakmontBakeryEffect?
How often have you heard of any business intervening to release a detainee? Children are held in captivity with lots of powerful people calling for their release with no effect. But a bakery owner in Pittsburgh pulled it off.
That’s a superpower they could use for good instead of deflecting attention to unnamed and unverified social media commenter. What is a social media commenter? It could be anyone on social media who makes a comment. There’s a difference between someone with 409 followers saying “Boycott!” and someone with tens of thousands of followers saying “Let’s take a second look at this situation.”
I feel zero pity for the MAGA baked good kingpins. Every step they take reinforces what I describe as the #OakmontBakeryEffect. I just have to sit back and watch them prove me right.
I don’t think you should protest this bakery. They’ve clearly dug their feet in and why spin your wheels against folx who prop the MAGA mentality? What I think is useful is reaching out to other businesses and finding where they stand. It is not easy to do. But ask your baker, your Italian restaurant owner, your barber. Where will they stand and what will they do when ICE is rolling through the Northside or McKees Rocks or Shadyside, snatching people?
I also don’t blame the Flores family for leaning into the bakery to save their loved one. I’d do it, too, even if I’m selling my soul. They can’t be faulted for anything because at the end of the day, they saved Jose and that’s no small thing. If I had someone that powerful I could call who has make shit happen that Governors, Senators, and celebrities cannot, I would do it. The family been through enough and deserve some privacy.
Pittsburgh protects our own, even when they are MAGA.
Chick-fil-A stores are consider small local businesses. Peace, Love & Little Donuts posted racist homophobic content then pled guilty to tax fraud and they are still on top of the world, lots of dough. The Ice Cream Twins who run Milkshake Factory after working for George W Bush and promoting a policy of hiring white blond girls to work in their store, settling a discrimination lawsuit filed by a Black woman – they just opened a new store. Sarris Candy. Cambodican KItchen. Portogallo Peppers N’AT. Every restaurant that took a stand against masks. Sportsball people who rape, beat, and disrespect the women in their lives. Cops who dislocate shoulders and shoot people without cause. County employees who plead guilty to stalking charges. Former City employees who had affairs with subordinates. Firefighters using coke on the job. Countless teachers and coaches who molest children.
The anti-labor coffeeshop chain owner closed his stores one day after employees organized. He’s on the board of The Andy Warhol Museum. Leaders of Indivisible chapters are patronizing Starbucks and Target.
And let’s not forget the priests.
We are a City that glosses over terrible things, big and small, because … we like the products? we are a moderate Democrat region flirting with the right wing? we are too tired to care? we don’t like confrontation? we lost our ties to labor movements? we are afraid? 4Fpm
We don’t bite the hand that feeds us.
I truly think a significant number of Pittsburghers will continue as usual, deny truth, and pretend to be progressive. They live in the ‘Most Livable City’ and turn away from any other reality. Their indifference, their belief that the ‘good’ immigrants will be spared, the trans children will be protected, and that the Nazis won’t impact their lives renders these folx as basically fools who ignore evidence.
What’s Good, Pittsburgh?
There are a lot of great businesses who are already going to bat for us. We need to show up and support them now. For example, you can visit https://www.goodsuniteus.com/ for some companies. You can visit their social media pages, look at Reddit, get on Signal groups, and more.
I anticipate that all of Second Pittsburgh will turn out. Black community, Latino community, Asian community, queer community, trans community, drag queens, students, poor people, disabled people, Summer Lee definitely. Municipal elected officials. Librarians. Socialist Democrats. UPMC employees. Members of union that are not trade affiliated. Probably a lot of soccer moms who pay attention and scared as suck while realizing how to wield their privilege to have an impact. Church folx. Artists. Community organizers.
What I fear is these Pittsburghs will turn against one another as the good and proper folx try desperately to keep the undesirable relatives from taking over the dinner table conversation.
One more time for the people trying not to hear me – a boycott against Oakmont Bakery seems pretty useless. Pivot to other businesses. Some people just have too much money to target. You’d have a bigger impact calling out Home Depot for letting ICE use their parking lot as a detention lot. Or making a list of all the restaurants who won’t let ICE in the door. Or talking with business owners you know about their role in the coming weeks and months.
Or identifying places with free whistles, ‘Know Your Rights’ signage, and mutual aid funds.
If any of you other ‘social media commenters’ can point me to the boycott calls, I’ll update this post.
The #OakmontBakeryEffect is more about us than it is about the Oakmont Bakery. They are just one of many examples of harmful behavior that we overlook. This is a ‘we’ problem or a ‘me’ problem that requires us to do some internal work.
Or you can just get into a defensive posture and deflect critical thinking.
For those who refuse to believe
- I am not calling for a boycott of Oakmont Bakery. I think it is a waste of time.
- The Flores family did what they had to do to save their loved one. Anyone who has problem with that is not paying attention.
- My call to action is for readers to have hard conversations with the businesses they support (or do some research) to determine if they stand with the Nazis or with their neighbors.
- Stop going to Starbucks and Target. That’s an easy lift.
