Chick-fil-A’s hiring of DEI leader sparks calls for boycott for being ‘WOKE’

If streaming service Netflix is looking for a new show, I have a suggestion I want to run by them – it’s called Bizarro World, starring the latest group of conservatives who are calling for a boycott of conservative chicken sandwich restaurant Chick Fil A.

For months, we have played witness to outrageous calls for boycotts by conservative groups who’ve come out against retailer Target and others. It appears that these conservative twitter groups have found themselves a new target, no pun intended.They are calling for a boycott of College Park-based Chick-fil-A over the hiring of a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) Officer and a page on DEI on the restaurant’s website.

One Twitter user posted “(T)hey Chose Go Woke, Go Broke.” Another said “DEI is an inherently anti-Christian practice. Having a ‘DEI director’ isn’t just bad business. It’s incompatible with being a conservative or a Christian company.”

These folks are literally calling for a boycott because Chick Fil A hired a DEI officer, which for some conservatives is a ‘no no’. They also associate diversity and inclusion messages with being anti-christian. For them, this hiring now puts the chicken sandwich king in the ‘WOKE’ category – whatever that means to them in their minds. Please note that the hiring of the DEI office for Chick Fil A occurred in 2020, but it must have slipped under the radar of the conservative watch dogs that are roaming the countryside trying to boycott Woke companies.  

Both sides of the political aisle are pointing to the irony of conservatives boycotting a restaurant that states its corporate purpose as being “(t)o glorify God by being a faithful steward of all that is entrusted to us and to be a positive influence on all who come in contact with Chick-fil-A” — even to the point of being closed on Sundays.
In spite of the word “Woke” being commandeered by the right and wrongly applied to anything they do not agree with, let’s examine the word WOKE and its true place in our history before it became attached to a broader awareness of social inequalities such as racism and sexism.

It was a WOKE person who invented fire, which now allows all of us to order our burgers and

steaks at a rare, medium, or well done temperature. It was a WOKE fellow who invented the wheel, which led to another WOKE fellow inventing the automobile to get us from place to place. Being WOKE took us from horseback to horsepower. A couple of WOKE brothers, aka the Wright Brothers, were WOKE enough to invent the airplane, which we all enjoy today when we want to get away for business or pleasure. It was another woke guy that invented electricity. I could go on and on, but I think you get the picture.

WOKE is not the negative word that some from the right are trying to make it out to be. When it comes to race relations, some have attributed WOKE to meaning “alert to racial prejudice and discrimination.” Again, this is not a negative, but just listen to the other side and see how they have made it negative. In Bizarro World and for those going after Chick Fil A, WOKE becomes a negative word that is weaponized against anyone and everyone. Members of conservative leaning political groups are using the term WOKE as a negative and an insult. In this case, these conservatives do not agree with the hiring of a Black Man, or any man or woman, to promote diversity and inclusion within a restaurant business that derives a major part of their profits from Black and Brown customers. Because Chick fil A dared to make this hire, they are now WOKE and should be boycotted.

Since 2020, the company’s DEI page has had a quote and picture of Vice President Erick McReynolds which says, “Chick-fil-A restaurants have long been recognized as a place where people know they will be treated well. Modeling care for others starts in the restaurant, and we are committed to ensuring mutual respect, understanding and dignity everywhere we do business. These tenets are good business practice and crucial to fulfilling our Corporate Purpose.” The page goes on to say, “Chick-fil-A, Inc.’s commitment to being Better at Together means embedding Diversity, Equity & Inclusion in everything we do.” 

How this message is offensive to anyone is beyond me. It is also frightening that we have people among us who feel this way about diversity. My advice is to stop allowing others to commandeer vernaculars and weaponize them against us. Next, reject those who believe that diversity is anti-christian. Lastly, support those who understand that we should all be included and that are openly embracing diversity and inclusion in their businesses.

Instead of Boycotting Chick Fil A, let’s raise the stakes and “Eat Mor Chikin”.  

As for me and my ‘WOKE’ household, we are eating our Chick fil A once a week, boycott be damned.

As for Netflix, call me about Bizarro World.