For those of you new to the case, Gibson’s Bakery was a 5th generation family business in Oberlin, Ohio, near the Oberlin College campus. It served baked goods to the public and also to the student dining service, as well as operating a general convenience store. As with many other small businesses, student shoplifting was epidemic, as we covered, Student journalist: Shoplifting at Gibson’s Bakery was part of Oberlin College’s “Culture of Theft”
A store clerk, a member of the Gibson family, caught an Oberlin black student shoplifting, a scuffle ensued that was joined by two other Oberlin black students. When the police arrived, they arrested the students who eventually pleaded guilty. But before that, the college officials and students accused the bakery of racial profiling, called a boycott, suspended Gibson’s business with the college, and organized protests outside the bakery.
-WiscoDave
