July 19, 2020

"What is Goya in the Latino community? It’s an icon, a statue. The left wants to destroy all icons."

Said Alexander Otaola, "a Cuban-American in Florida with 105,000 followers on Instagram," quoted in "How Buying Beans Became a Political Statement/The boycott and counter-boycott of Goya comes as the major political parties seek to energize Hispanic support ahead of the 2020 election" (NYT).

The Goya chief executive of Goya, Robert Unanue, appeared at the White House rollout of the the "Hispanic Prosperity Initiative" and said "We’re all truly blessed at the same time to have a leader like President Trump, who is a builder. And that’s what my grandfather did." That led to a boycott and a reaction to the boycott.

You probably know all that. I'm just blogging because of the beans/statue analogy.

71 comments:

WWIII Joe Biden, Husk-Puppet + America's Putin said...

When the CEO of GOYA visited Barack and Michelle in the White House, CNN and the corrupt a-hole cancel-culture Nazi Fascist left - did not shit their pants over it.

WWIII Joe Biden, Husk-Puppet + America's Putin said...

The corrupt cancel-cult free speech stomping America Left ARE the greater threat to freedom than terrorism.

but - hey - you got your corrupt leader in the Q. Hunter Biden!

Unknown said...

beans beans

the more you tweet

the more you toot

Phil 314 said...

His support was music to Trump’s ears.

That’s because beans are the musical fruit.

WWIII Joe Biden, Husk-Puppet + America's Putin said...

Isn't it RACIST to cancel a Hispanic?

I'd say so.

The cancel-culture letter-signing fraud LEFT are the real racists.

Sebastian said...

"The left wants to destroy all icons."

True. Trump should run on it.

Jupiter said...

"Counter-boycott"? Surely we can do better than that. Boycott is a man's name. If I were a jounrnalist, I would coin some idiotic word like "Goyacott" to describe the situation. Thank God, my mother raised me right, and I will never sink that low.

Or Goycott, and then they can also rave about antisemitism or something. It's all hate, all the time, in Amerika!

Skeptical Voter said...

Sometimes a can of bean is just a can of beans--high quality beans, but beans.
I've forgotten just which fast food chain is saving the world from cow flatulence by adding lemon grass to the cattle feed ration. Not that I much care one way or the other.

Let's leave the food chain alone, although a virulent vegan might have to pry pork carnitas from my cold dead hands.

Skeptical Voter said...

Sometimes a can of bean is just a can of beans--high quality beans, but beans.
I've forgotten just which fast food chain is saving the world from cow flatulence by adding lemon grass to the cattle feed ration. Not that I much care one way or the other.

Let's leave the food chain alone, although a virulent vegan might have to pry pork carnitas from my cold dead hands.

Stephen Taylor said...

It's actually pretty good eats. My wife and I snatched up some Goya products at Fiesta here in Austin. We bought some of that Adobo powder, which goes very well on a piece of baked chicken, which is one of my favorite foods. We bought some marinade, and used it on a pork shoulder roast, and we finished off that roast very quickly; it was outstanding. Goya has made a new customer in South Austin.

Fiesta is a store that caters to shoppers of different ethnicities. In South Austin that means Mexicans and Latin Americans. Fiesta might be the only supermarket in Austin with a barrel of cactus in the produce department. I told my wife that the average Fiesta shopper not only didn't know about the boycott of Goya, but wouldn't care if they did.

A funny thing about Fiesta; it's a chain in South Texas which caters to all sorts of different ethnic groups, but it was founded in Houston decades ago by two white men.
It's to laugh.

n.n said...

Isn't it RACIST to cancel a Hispanic?

He's White Hispanic (i.e. fractional).

n.n said...

in the presence and under the steady eye of the honored and trusted President of the United States, with the members of his wise and patriotic Cabinet, we, the colored people, newly emancipated and rejoicing in our blood-bought freedom, near the close of the first century in the life of this Republic, have now and here unveiled, set apart, and dedicated a monument of enduring granite and bronze, in every line, feature, and figure of which the men of this generation may read, and those of aftercoming generations may read, something of the exalted character and great works of Abraham Lincoln, the first martyr President of the United States

"The left wants to destroy all icons."

What is the cause of their acutely phobic reaction, irrational response? What are they hiding?

Andrew said...

To my knowledge I've never bought Goya products before. I will keep my eyes open for them now. They seem to be sold out at my local Kroger.

Michael said...

Bought many cans of Goya beans and peas this week and encourage others to do the same. This is the greatest boon to an unwoke business since the Chik Fil A "boycott."

WWIII Joe Biden, Husk-Puppet + America's Putin said...

who will the collective nazi left shut down next?

Maybe you and your business?

Gk1 said...

I routinely go to a locally owned hispanic food chain called "Lola's" and went to pick up some Goya products only to find it got picked over pretty well. All that was left were a few cans of beans and their Adobo seasoning. Maybe hispanic's don't like being lectured to by white, liberal, Karen's? Or maybe all of the press over this has acted like free advertising for Goya. Anyway you slice it, it's obviously backfired as a boycott.

Curious George said...

""Counter-boycott"? Surely we can do better than that. "

Buycott!
Buycott GOYA. Their Adobo All Purpose Seasoning with Pepper is fantasstic.

Fernandinande said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Fernandinande said...

Isn't it RACIST to cancel a Hispanic?

'Hispanic' isn't a race; for example, Robert Unanue, founder of Goya, is a white European, an immigrant from Europe.

The real sin is the attempted cancellation of a tired, poor, huddled mass, who is merely yearning to breathe free and make 1.1 billion dollars in the process.

Joe Smith said...

This brings up the whole 'Hispanic' kettle of fish.

Goya was founded by a Spaniard. He was European, and thus not a 'person of color.'

Fuck him.

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

The White House visitor and Goya CEO has the same last name as the Goya founding family.

My gut tells me he gaged the likely reaction to what he said at the White House. And if this is true, it means the support for Trump among Hispanics is very strong.

Whether or not that support resides among "likely voters" is a different story.

Bruce Hayden said...

Good move on the part of the left. One of the fastest growing demographics in the country are the Hispanics, and in particular, Mexican and Central American Hispanics. They are supposed to lock step support the left, even to the extent of destroying an iconic Hispanic brand. Why? Making things worse, the same leftists (kinda) started by trying to burn down a Catholic mission in CA that predates our Revolutionary War. They have continued by beheading statues of Jesus, and burning Catholic statues. Someone hasn’t spent much time around that demographic. I am talking statues of saints on their dashboards, small shrines in the entry of many houses, half a row of religious candles at Dollar Tree, etc. something that I didn’t notice in our last neighborhood, until it was pointed out to me by my RC partner, was that all the houses, the shopping center next door, had iron crosses in windows, apparently to keep out evil spirits. Even the gang bangers have religious iconage in their tattoos. And the same leftists attacking Goya, are attacking their Roman Catholicism. So much for the Dems’ long term plan for a permanent electoral majority by importing a lot of uneducated Hispanic peasants, whose understanding of their Roman Catholicism is likely much less enlightened than that of Nancy Palsi and China Joe Biden.

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

If I had to choose I choose Campbells over Goya black bean soup.

Link

Francisco D said...

I never bought Goya products before. I make my own sauces and their beans are over priced.

However, I did find a few items at one store only (out of 5) - sofrito sauce and pinto beans. I really want to try their adobo on chicken (which I understand to be a Filipino dish).

I wonder if the leftists calling for a boycott ever bought Goya foods. They seem to be people who eat their meals out rather than cook at home.

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

My Goya gut was right... Headline: "Umbrella group for bodega owners reject calls for boycott of Goya products in Tri-State area"

link

Gospace said...

roadgeek said...
....
A funny thing about Fiesta; it's a chain in South Texas which caters to all sorts of different ethnic groups, but it was founded in Houston decades ago by two white men.
It's to laugh.


Nothing funny about that at all. Money is money, and people motivated to make it will find a way to do so. They see a need, they fill it, and don't care about who the customer is- as long as they're a paying customer.

Jim Crow Laws were laws, passed by governments, whoops, Democrats, that have no profit motive, forced upon bus and streetcar lines. Transit wasn't segregated until government forced segregation upon it- companies didn't care where people sat, as long as they paid.

Ingachuck'stoothlessARM said...

what a horror show--Lefties treating this CEO

...like he's the "Creature From The Black Legume"

(please no lectures re:beans/legumes.Thank you)

Daniel Jackson said...

The issue is over a hill of beans.

wendybar said...

The left is miserable and they want everybody else to be just as miserable as they are. I just laugh at them.

Ingachuck'stoothlessARM said...

more on Bean-gate:

Ivanka Trump’s Goya Tweet Isn’t Just Gross, It’s a ‘Flagrant’ Violation of Federal Law

https://www.bing.com/search?q=goya%20oh%20boya%20&qs=n&form=QBRE&sp=-1&pq=goya%20oh%20boya%20&sc=1-13&sk=&cvid=54EEC57A60CD4FDFB8F0E4B717CC910B

and slogan "Goya, Oh Boya!!"... muy Sexisto !!!

Ken B said...

It’s not a stupid analogy. As I keep saying, iconoclasm is about denigrating symbols important to other people as a way to dominate them. Statues are only one kind of symbol, there are others. Book burners don’t just burn philosophy and history, they burn recipes too.

Rabel said...

Here's the Speaker of the House having a discussion with a group of anti-Goyans.

John henry said...

Michael,

I would say that on a return basis Memories Pizza in Indiana did far better.

Business increased after the boycott and they scooped up $830m cash in a go fund me.

Your point is well taken. Getting "boycotted" is a superb marketing tool

Goya, OH boya!

In Costco at the moment where we intend to buy 50-60 cans of Goya Beans for hurricane prep.

We always buy Goya. Just not so much at once usually

John Henry

Sofa King said...

"This is Our hill! And these are OUR beans!"

Wince said...

"We’re all truly blessed at the same time to have a leader like President Trump, who is a builder. And that’s what my grandfather did." That led to a boycott and a reaction to the boycott.

"...and maybe the problems of two people don't amount to a hill of beans... but this is our hill, and these are our beans."

traditionalguy said...

In the era of Trump, every event spills the beans on the fake-news-narrative hypnotists. The slandered Americans are rising up and demanding the Presumption of Innocence be restored... even to us Deplorable's.

NorthOfTheOneOhOne said...

roadgeek said...

Fiesta is a store that caters to shoppers of different ethnicities. In South Austin that means Mexicans and Latin Americans. Fiesta might be the only supermarket in Austin with a barrel of cactus in the produce department. I told my wife that the average Fiesta shopper not only didn't know about the boycott of Goya, but wouldn't care if they did.

About 5 miles from my house here in metro Phoenix is a huge Asian supermarket. They have the store subdivided by ethnicities and have an aisle or two devoted each one. The Philippine aisles are nearly all Goya products.

NorthOfTheOneOhOne said...

Gk1 said...

I routinely go to a locally owned hispanic food chain called "Lola's" and went to pick up some Goya products only to find it got picked over pretty well. All that was left were a few cans of beans and their Adobo seasoning. Maybe hispanic's don't like being lectured to by white, liberal, Karen's? Or maybe all of the press over this has acted like free advertising for Goya. Anyway you slice it, it's obviously backfired as a boycott.

Maybe they're hoarding because they expect it to be pulled off the shelves by the spineless turds in the chain's front office? Either way doesn't sound like the Hispanic community is too keen on the Left right now.

Bruce Hayden said...

“Goya was founded by a Spaniard. He was European, and thus not a 'person of color.'“

A friend pointed out to me awhile ago, that the first President of Mexico, for much of the previous century, who looked like a “Mexican”, was truly a POC, was Vicente Fox. Before that, they all would have looked as home on the streets of Madrid, as the streets of Mexico City. They looked Spanish, and genetically still mostly were, after maybe four centuries. Ever watch a Telenovela? Maybe even fewer apparent POCs than our US soaps, where obvious POCs are necessary to sell TV shows in this country. There appears to still be a lot of racism, in places
like Mexico, where European, and esp Spanish, ancestry is still considered upper class, with degradations down to pure Indian at the bottom.

The Crack Emcee said...

Christopher Columbus wasn't worth a hill o' beans.

MadisonMan said...

$830 million? Wow!

Joe Smith said...

@ Bruce Hayden

I've been making your point for years about racism amongst Mexicans/Latin Americans and their ruling 'elites.' When I mentioned this to my super liberal aunt and uncle (my aunt of Mexican heritage) the light actually went on. They said they'd never really thought about it that way before.

Btw, look up photos of Fox, he looks like a typical patrician Southern European. He is listed as 6'3.5" tall...hardly a Mestizo.

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/20/Vicente_Fox_flag.jpg

And as I mentioned in a prior post, my childhood friend from El Salvador would kick your ass if you called him a 'Mexican.'

n.n said...

My Goya gut was right... Headline: "Umbrella group for bodega owners reject calls for boycott of Goya products in Tri-State area"

"Trump tweeted the next day about his "love" for Goya"

There is a logical progression here: #HateTrumpsLove #HateLovesAbortion

People are rejecting the progressive call to diversity, division, and exclusion.

rhhardin said...

Wretched, thrice wretched men, keep your hands from your testicles.

- Empedocles (lit.: "Wretches, utter wretches, keep your hands from beans!")

John henry said...

Joe Smith,

I was going to make the same point. By federal law and most definitions, Prudecio Unanue was not "hispanic" so you are right about him.

However, unlike the majority of people identified as Hispanics, Roberto actually meets the govt def "descendant of an immigrant from the Iberian peninsula." (which includes Brazilians)

Plus Bob Ununue is Puerto Rican by birth so automatically "hispanic"

John Henry

hstad said...

Interesting point of view but a bid misdirect Alexander Otaola. The Left never thinks like you do and doesn't care about "icons" only cares about 'power'. Being "Cuban" I would've thought that's the first thing that came to mind - ultimate power - is all the ANTIFA and BLM crowd seeks. Problem is there are not enough of them - they will be a shallow memory if the future.

narciso said...

the Times gave Fidel his job, as buckley once wagged, matthews being a little sharper than say ali velshi, not noticing the same 12 fighters were being put forth before the cameras,

Joe Smith said...

"However, unlike the majority of people identified as Hispanics, Roberto actually meets the govt def "descendant of an immigrant from the Iberian peninsula." (which includes Brazilians)"

So what does that get him?

My father is first-generation born in the US. My grandfather was from Italy. When he got here he definitely wasn't considered 'white.'

tim maguire said...

The statue comparison is interesting, but limited. Just as the mostly affluent, mostly white liberals who make up "woke" and BLM never helped make a statue, they also never buy Goya. And therein lies the limitation--they can't properly boycott Goya because they don't buy Goya. Goya is for poor people, especially poor brown people, which they most certainly are not.

But fhey don't boycott statues, they tear then down. What they need to do to complete the comparison is burn down the Goya factories and beat the poor brown people who work there. That would work, and racist violence is right in their wheelhouse, so bonus.

Darkisland said...

MadisonMan said...

$830 million? Wow!

No, read my note. $830m

John Henry

Darkisland said...

Tim,

Goya sems to be a pretty mainstream brand. Not premium but not cheap either. Here in pr it generally costs a bit more than other brands. Never having bought it in the upper 50,I don't know how it compares.

I never thought Id actually say this but you really need to check your privilege. That is one hell of a racist statement. I don't use that word lightly. You should be ashamed of yourself.

Rather than just sterotyping Puerto Ricans as brown, you should come to pr and see. We run all shades from pure African black to fair haired blue eyed white skin.

Id be willing to bet that we could take 50 random Puerto Ricans, mix them with 50 random people from madison or Burlington and you could not pick one from the other any more reliably than I could flipping a coin.

John Henry

Darkisland said...

Joe,

It should get him nothing. You are the one who said Roberto was not hispanic. I was just pointing out that you were right about the grandfather, wrong about the grandson.

As a person of Italian descent, doesn't that make you a "latino"?

If you were argentine, it would also make you "majority" 60%of argentines are Italian descent. Another 20-30 are german.

Yet we call them hispanics for some reason.

Hispanic is a bullshit concept.

John Henry

Joe Smith said...

"Hispanic is a bullshit concept."

Total agreement. I HATE putting people in boxes based on any criteria.

My father says I have relatives in Argentina that went there after WWII...most likely Mussolini types. It would be absurd to classify my relatives as 'Latino.'

And don't forget, if Ernie Els gained U.S. citizenship he'd be African-American : )

n.n said...

Hispanic is a bullshit concept.

It's a term of diversity that dictates a class-based (color) taxonomic system to classify and codify people... persons. The Marxists have it. The Maoists had it. The Nazis had it. It forms the foundation of progressive dogma.

exiledonmainstreet, green-eyed devil said...

Darkisland, I spent some time in San Juan in the late '80's. I was working for a law firm that was doing discovery down there. One of the lawyers supervising us was a local named Pedro O'Nolan, who had red hair. He said his ancestors intended to go to Boston but got on the wrong boat. O'Nolan's ancestors apparently were not the only ones who made that mistake, as I discovered when I went to places frequented by locals and saw more than a few blondes and redheads.

Before that trip, my idea of Puerto Ricans came mainly from "West Side Story." You know, Natalie Wood with spray paint.

exiledonmainstreet, green-eyed devil said...

I have become a great fan of Goya Adobo seasoning, which is very good on chicken. Had it not been for the leftist hissy fit, I would have never bought it. So, thanks lefties, for introducing me to a good product.

Fernandinande said...

"$830 million? Wow!"

No, read my note. $830m


$830m = 83 cents since "m" ~ .001

The Gipper Lives said...

#BlackBeansMatter!

DanTheMan said...

>>As a person of Italian descent, doesn't that make you a "latino"?

My dad was 100% Sicilian, and I grew up hearing stories about "the old country". He'd punch you in the nose if you called him Hispanic.

None of the Italians I know consider themselves Hispanic. And, if I understand the PC rules correctly, people of Spain are not Hispanic.

It's so hard to keep up with the racial gerrymandering...


Curious George said...

tim maguire said...
The statue comparison is interesting, but limited. Just as the mostly affluent, mostly white liberals who make up "woke" and BLM never helped make a statue, they also never buy Goya. And therein lies the limitation--they can't properly boycott Goya because they don't buy Goya. Goya is for poor people, especially poor brown people, which they most certainly are not.

Dude Goya is sold by Whole Foods. Who do you think shops there?

bagoh20 said...

A business man who supports a President who is also a business man and pro-business, and the Left is against businessmen and their businesses. Where is the news? Stunning. Also unheard of to the left is that some businesses are run by minorities that don't make their money through the government. I don't think these people understand what they support or what they hate. Just destroy something.

bagoh20 said...

In fact, I have a question. What does the Left support beside the destruction of things?

Joe Smith said...

Italians are not considered Hispanic...no.

But for all of the 19th century and a good part of the 20th century, Italian immigrants to America weren't considered white either.

cubanbob said...

Dude Goya is sold by Whole Foods. Who do you think shops there?"

Curious George those prices are for gringos. Less privileged Latins shop at Walmart and Latin chains and most Latin chains are not pricy. Goya maybe the more pricey brand in those markets but even at that they aren't expensive. They do make a pretty good Cuban style black bean soup. Not as good as homemade by someone who knows how to cook but at least 85% as good and it only takes opening a can and heating the soup. Their Cuban red bean soup is also pretty good. I rather doubt that anyone who buys Goya products on a regular basis even knows about this nonsense and if they did, they wouldn't care. It's a Karen-TDS thing. Not something working people get excited about.

WWIII Joe Biden, Husk-Puppet + America's Putin said...

THE LEFT want to destroy the middle class. Then create their soros-billionaire club, and let the rest of us starve.

f the left.

John henry said...

Joe,

I did not say you were hispanic, I was kiddingly saying you latino.

As far as I can tell Latin has always been historically bound with Italy.

Saying that people notionally linked to Spain are "Latinos" seems even more bullshit than hispanic. I certainly did not mean to offend and apologize if I did.

As for Argentina, they would have some claim to be called "Latin American" being largely settled by Italians. 2.2 million between 1860 and 1920. Also several hundred thousand Germans.

Argentine Spanish pronunciation is very different sounding more like Italian than Spanish in rhythm.

John Henry

John henry said...

Exiled,

Did you go to te El Morro fort? Did you notice who built it? Spanish field Marshall alejandro O'Reilly and Tomas o'daly. O'daly was not a field Marshall but almost as high. Both born in Ireland in the 1600s iirc.

The Spanish viceroy of peru, governing all of South America west of the Andes more or less was Ambrosio O'Higgins born in Ireland. His bastard son Bernardo O'Higgins became the liberator of Chile and other countries in the early 1800s

There were more Irish in "Latin America" than Spanish. More africans than portugese in Brazil.

The book Paisanos by Tim fanning covers the Irish in South America in depth.

Very few people who identify as hispanic have any Spanish blood at all.

Not all that many Spanish actually went to South America.

John Henry

buwaya said...

I am sure lots of misc non-Spanish Europeans went to South-Central America.

But I doubt they "contributed" as much to the local gene pool as the Spanish did, in most places. The Spanish did emigrate to their empire in large numbers, where these are known. In Cuba for instance there were @700,000 Spanish immigrants from 1868-1898. This turned Cuba from a majority (@60%) black/mulato country to majority white (@70%).
Cuba seems to have been "whiter" by 1898 than many if not most southern US states.

And there is the factor of time. Before there was a general other-European immigration, which was largely a matter of the latter part of the 19th century onward, the Spanish had been there reproducing with the natives and each other for hundreds of years. We know from Cavalli-Sforza how difficult it is to genetically replace an established agricultural population.

In any case, a genetic assay of the European origins of South-Central American populations would be interesting.

As for the highly-placed Irish of the 18th-early 19th century, this was more a matter of the emigration of the old Catholic nobility and gentry of Ireland, rather than masses of Irish peasants. There were lots of Irish officers in the Spanish military of the time (and other foreigners, such as my own Turkish ancestor, and this was also true of other parts of Europe at the time, France, Austria, Prussia, Russia). Spain and France were where the Catholic Irish upper crust generally would be most welcome to pursue a military or administrative career. In Spain itself you will find lots of Irish officers in high places, some of whom were also as you note given high offices in the Empire. Ricardo Wall (prime minister), Joaquin Blake, O'Reilly (painted by Goya), Lacy, O'Neill, O'Donnell, O'Donoju, etc.

buwaya said...

Mexico overall is about 40% or a bit more "white", by ancestry, the remainder being nearly all Indio. The white ancestry of Mexico seems to have been quite baked-in by the 19th century, I'm guessing.

Other countries in the old empire vary.

The Philippines seems to be about 2% white. There were very few Europeans there, ever, and most of these were clergy.

exiledonmainstreet, green-eyed devil said...

As stupid as it is to lump all native Spanish-speakers in the Americas together as "Hispanic", it is even dumber to speak of "Asians" as if they are a single entity. The so-called Hispanics at least share a language in common (more or less, although an Argentinian friend told me she has a difficult time with the Cuban/Puerto Rican accent). A doctor from New Delhi, a Hmong shopkeeper, a Japanese software engineer - what language, faith or culture do they have in common?

Joe Smith said...

@John Henry...

No you did not offend, but thank you for apologizing if you thought you did.

We are on the same page here...