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CLUCKED-UP: MAGA fanatics freaking out over “woke” Chick-fil-A

CLUCKED-UP: MAGA fanatics freaking out over “woke” Chick-fil-A

MAGA must feel lost, spun, feeling unwanted.

After all, the business that the Christian Right claimed to be near-exclusively “theirs” has gone “woke.”

They need not panic. Despite Chick-fil-A hiring a Vice-President for “DEI” (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion), the MAGAs are likely safe from the chicken place going gay-friendly or serving on Sunday soon.

The decision to be “inclusive” and “diversify” seems confined to race.

It is better than nothing, or far worse than nothing — if one asks a MAGA supporter.

Erick McReynolds is the new VP of diversity, equity, and inclusion at Chick-fil-A — or the czar of “woke” if you ask the bigots.

Gov. Ron DeSantis and many MAGAs consider it their primary duty to ensure that anything “woke” never gets a foothold in this country if they can prevent it.

But McReynolds easily justified the action according to AL.com’s report:

“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.”

The LGBTQ+ community would strongly argue with the above statement, and they have the receipts.

Chick-fil-A has a record of presenting one public face while privately operating in the opposite manner, according to an Esquire report in June of 2021.

Chick-fil-a announced in late 2019 that it would no longer donate to anti-LGBTQ organizations. The claim was true.

But Chick-fil-A’s owner, the absurdly rich Dan Cathy, didn’t stop his donations.

So, in a sense, the donations to anti-LGBTQ organizations just made a pass-through from sandwich buyers to Chick-fil-A to Dan Cathy to Anti-LGBTQ organizations.

Cathy rules Chick-fil-A with an iron fist.

So, why would one suspect that this move has more to do with the inclusion of diverse races than our LGBTQ+ family?

There is some evidence that Cathy does consider the inclusion of all races to be a Christian duty.

Depending on one’s level of cynicism, the video below shows Cathy humbling himself to “shine the shoes” of a black man, just as he saw a black man do at a Christian revival.

Of course, whether Chick-fil-A is even the least bit sincere in going woke, it had to know it would spark outrage among some customers. But made the move anyway.

This is a pattern among many — nearly all — American businesses.

Whether it is the NFL, Disney, Anheuser-Busch, or now Chick-fil-A, corporate America has figured out that DEI is good for business even at the expense of taking the inevitable MAGA hit.

Oh, and it “hit” the MAGAs, alright.

As one might expect, the hardcore right reacted with outrage.

Their mission is to make America safe by refusing diversification, reversing any equity, and excluding those who “should be” excluded (at least according to their own twisted opinions).

The far-right has always associated Chick-fil-A with sharing their “Christian values” (some of us see true Christianity to be radically progressive).

Apparently, the MAGAs believe that Christ, too, would want the restaurant to remain homogenous, inequitable, and exclusive.

To the extent, any of this will have any actual effect beyond the announcement, which is enough to upset MAGAs…deal with it.

Original reporting by Mark Heim at AL.com.

I can be reached at jasonmiciak@gmail.com and on Twitter @JasonMiciak.

Editor’s note: This is an opinion column that solely reflects the opinions of the author.

Jason Miciak
Jason Miciak is an associate editor and opinion writer for Occupy Democrats. He's a Canadian-American who grew up in the Pacific Northwest. He is a trained attorney, but for the last five years, he's devoted his time to writing political news and analysis. He enjoys life on the Gulf Coast as a single dad to a 15-year-old daughter. Hobbies include flower pots, cooking, and doing what his daughter tells him they're doing. Sign up to get all of my posts by email right here:

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