Darrell Castle talks about the victory of Gibson's Bakery over Oberlin College and how truth was revealed through a bottle of wine.

IN VINO VERITAS—WINE BRINGS TRUTH

Hello this is Darrell Castle with today’s Castle Report. Today is Friday, June 21, 2019, and on this Report I will be talking about how truth sometimes does come from a bottle of wine, as the Latin title translates. The legal battle between Oberlin College and Gibson’s Bakery is the real subject for today as well as how truth was revealed in that case through a bottle of wine.

Oberlin College is a private liberal arts college and conservatory of music in Oberlin, Ohio. It is the oldest co-educational liberal arts college in the United States, having been founded in 1835. It claims to be the first college to admit women and the first to admit African Americans, and today it is described on Wikipedia as “known for its progressive student activism.”

The other side of the case we are talking about is Gibson’s Bakery, a small business located near the Oberlin campus since 1885. Gibson’s then is a fifth generation family owned business which has been owned and operated by the same family for more than 130 years. The elder Gipson is now 90 years old and still works in the bakery, and was present for much of the trial.

This case actually started the day after the 2016 presidential election. Apparently a lot of students at Oberlin, as well as the college administration, had a hard time accepting the results of that election. The day after Donald Trump was elected, I suppose in despair and wanting to drown his sorrow, a student, who happened to be African American, along with two companions, came into the bakery, stuck a bottle of wine in his coat and walked out without paying.

Allyn Gibson, whose great-great-grandfather founded the bakery, confronted the young man and told him he was going to call the police. There was a physical altercation outside when Mr. Gibson tried to take a picture, and when the police arrived Mr. Gibson was on the ground, apparently having been beaten and kicked by the three. The three men, all black, were arrested and charged, and then the president of Oberlin sent the following email to the student body:

“This has been a difficult few days for our community, not simply because of the events at Gibson’s Bakery, but because of the fears and concerns that many are feeling in response to the outcome of the presidential election. We write foremost to acknowledge the pain and sadness that many of you are experiencing. We want you to know that the administration, faculty, and staff are here to support you as we work through this moment together.”

The administration of Oberlin clearly had a political agenda and was willing to tie it to the incident at Gibson’s. The poor students at one of the most elite colleges in the country have apparently never experienced very much pain and suffering in their lives because they were simply unable to cope with not getting the results they wanted from the election. The College’s agenda, at least implicitly, encourages the left wing actions of the students and lets them know that it sympathizes.

The Gibson’s were accused of racial profiling since those arrested were black and the Gibson family is white. Student protests formed outside the Bakery, including a boycott which the college participated in, as well as cancelling business with the Bakery. Dean of Students, Meredith Raimondo, participated in the protests along with the students although she said she was there only to support the students and protect them, but she was seen handing out flyers along with the students. The Bakery was severely damaged economically, and was virtually out of business. For several months it struggled to make ends meet and had to lay off most of its 12 employees, some of whom were black. When this type of confrontation is going on outside a business no one wants to risk going there especially with ...