Be careful whom you try to cancel: The bid to boycott Goya Foods is backfiring in all manner of telling ways.
The outrage industry pounced after Goya CEO Robert Unanue praised President Trump on July 9, demanding that socially conscious consumers find other sources of beans, rice, spices and so on.
Blowback included the “buy-cott” announced last week in these pages by Francisco Marte, the secretary-treasurer of the Bodega and Small Business Association, furious at the attempt at “enforcing political conformity on one of this country’s most successful job creators” while actively “harming Hispanic-immigrant-run stores that work long hours to make ends meet amid a challenging economic and health crisis.”
Meanwhile, DC-area TV producer Casey Harper opted for a charitable approach: He started a GoFundMe page to request donations to buy Goya products and donate them to food pantries.
He launched July 11 with a goal of raising $10,000. As of Sunday evening, thousands of donors had given more than $300,000 — which should cover about half a million pounds of food for the needy.
Since not many trendy cancel-culture types actually ever bought Goya foods in the first place, this assault looks like a big win for its target — and, thanks to Harper, one that for once might actually do some real good.