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When Robert Unanue, the CEO of Goya Foods, stood with President Donald Trump after he signed the Hispanic Prosperity Initiative, the cancel culture brigade was incensed and called for a boycott of the company. Mainstream news outlets and a cadre of Hollywood activists promoted the boycott. Of course, they were not going to lose business or lay off people if the boycott was successful against the folks at Goya. The goal was to attack anyone who dared to say no to the revolutionary antics of the cancel culture mentality.
What was Mr. Unanue’s sin? He had the audacity to say this during his meeting with President Trump: “We are all truly blessed … to have a leader like President Trump who is a builder. That is what my grandfather did. He came to this country to build, to grow, to prosper. We have an incredible builder, and we pray. We pray for our leadership, our president.”
Goya Foods CEO Robert Unanue: "We're all truly blessed… to have a leader like President Trump who is a builder." pic.twitter.com/2VdG4qAnpK
— The Hill (@thehill) July 9, 2020
Mr. Unanue was not supporting every aspect of Trump’s presidency. He was comparing Trump as a builder with his grandfather who started Goya Foods. It’s just common courtesy not to disrespect the President of the United States no matter what your disagreements might be with him.
It should be noted that Unanue also stood with President Obama and the First Lady in 2012 at an event in Tampa, Florida, “to promote the former first lady’s healthy-eating initiative.” It didn’t matter. The boycott was on.
Goya Foods, Inc. was founded in 1936 by Spanish immigrants. It’s the largest Hispanic-owned food company in the United States. Goya’s generosity is well known and far reaching:
“Goya Gives” is a program to support various charities, scholarships, and events, and includes donations of products to food shelters and food banks during times of crisis, such as Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico. In March and April 2020, in response to the Coronavirus pandemic, Goya donated over 300,000 pounds (140,000 kg) of food, or about 270,000 meals, to food banks and other organizations in the United States, and also donated more than 20,000 protective masks.
None of this matters to cancel culture advocates. Their goal is to bring disruption to the United States any way they can, even if it means attacking minorities they claim to support. It’s described as “collateral damage” for the revolution’s greater goal.
Goya Foods employs more than 4,000 people from every walk of life. They serve families around the world with their more than 2,500 high-quality products from the Caribbean, Mexico, Spain, Central, and South America.
In addition to the employees and products that originate with Goya, there is a down-river effect of products grown by farmers who employ people as well as the packaging, shipping, and distribution network to stores.
The cancel culture boycotters don’t seem to care about a minority-owned business and those whose lives are dependent on the products the company produces and sells. The goal is to foment a revolution. This should not surprise us because it’s happened before with disastrous results (Ecclesiastes 1:9).
All things are wearisome, more than one can say. The eye never has enough of seeing, nor the ear its fill of hearing. What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun.
The French Revolution of the 18th century was in the cancel culture business. Everything old was relegated to the dustbin of history. Anyone who stood in the way of the revolution was cancelled. Don’t get me wrong, the French Revolution can’t be compared to boycotting a company like Goya Foods, but the goal is the same. In the past few months, we’ve seen some serious displays of revolutionary fervor. So, let’s never say it can’t happen here.
What did the French Revolutionaries do? First, they attacked their ideological enemies. Second, they worked overtime to separate the French people from their past. Third, they attacked the church physically and symbolically. They dressed up a woman in Roman garb and paraded her through the streets of Paris to the Cathedral of Notre Dame where they declared her to be the “goddess reason.”
Fourth, to show their disdain for the Christian faith, they started their revolutionary calendar as the “New year One,” cancelling Anno Domini, “in the year of Our Lord.” Fifth, they changed the seven-day biblical creation week to a ten-day week.
We are not at this point in our history, but as we’ve seen, it’s only taken a few months to see a radical change across the United States. Names have been changed, statues toppled, and churches defaced.
So, what’s become of the boycott? Well, it seems that the Goya boycott has been countered by a Goya buy-cott as supporters of the company load up on the company’s product.
Gary—is the President of American Vision — is a graduate of Western Michigan University (1973) and earned his M.Div. at Reformed Theological Seminary in 1979. Author of countless essays, news articles, and more than 35 book titles, he has been featured by nearly every major news media outlet. Gary also has hosted The Gary DeMar Show, History Unwrapped, and the Gary DeMar’s Vantage Point Webshow and is a regular contributor to AmericanVision.org. Gary has lived in the Atlanta area since 1979 with his wife, Carol. They have two married sons and are enjoying being grandparents. Gary and Carol are members of Midway Presbyterian Church (PCA).
