NORTH MIAMI, FLORIDA: A North Miami bookstore and cafe asked a Fox News analyst to leave while he was having a conversation with pals about politics. Gianno Caldwell was having a meal with a bunch of people at Paradis Books and Bread when he was told to leave the restaurant.
"I can't believe what just happened. I met up with friends for breakfast at Paradis Books and Bread in North Miami & while we were having discussions about politics we were told by the owner that we were not welcomed there because we aren't politically aligned. Outrageous," the analyst took to Twitter and shared the encounter. "No matter your politics you should not be discriminated against. I was discriminated against for being a conservative and told to leave a restaurant in North Miami because my politics didn't 'align' with the owner. This is NOT okay," he said in another tweet.
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I can't believe what just happened. I met up with friends for breakfast at Paradis Books and Bread in North Miami & while we were having discussions about politics we were told by the owner that we were not welcomed there because we aren't politically aligned. Outrageous.
— Gianno Caldwell (@GiannoCaldwell) January 21, 2023
No matter your politics you should not be discriminated against. I was discriminated against for being a conservative and told to leave a restaurant in North Miami because my politics didn’t “align” with the owner. This is NOT okay. Segment: https://t.co/eoFEKXlYlN pic.twitter.com/27Ij5BrEoI
— Gianno Caldwell (@GiannoCaldwell) January 22, 2023
According to Caldwell, the episode was blatantly discriminatory, and the bookstore's actions encouraged a form of political segregation akin to that of the Jim Crow South. As per Khan Academy, Jim Crow laws were established by White southerners in the 1870s through the 1960s to maintain racial segregation throughout the South. "Whites only" and "colored" signs were widely used at the South's water fountains, restrooms, bus waiting areas, movie theaters, swimming pools, and public schools during the Jim Crow era. African Americans feared arrest or deadly retaliation if they ventured to protest segregation.
Speaking to NBC6, the analyst said, "In 1963, Dr Martin Luther King said, 'Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.' My experience at Paradis Books and Bread in North Miami is a clear case of discrimination that should not be tolerated in Florida or anywhere in America." He added, "Whether liberal or conservative, no one should ever be asked to leave a place of business for engaging in political conversation in a respectful dialogue. Paradis is promoting a sort of political segregation that hearkens back to the days of the Jim Crow South and runs counter to the restaurant's harm reduction policy."
Who owns Paradis Books and Bread?
As per Daily Mail, Paradis books & bread, a bookstore, wine bar, and bakery, is owned by five friends, Brian Wright, Bianca Sanon, a Miami-based sommelier and co-owner/operator, Sef Chesson, Ben Yen, and Audrey Wright, and was started in December 2021. It has since closed its doors and announced on Instagram that it would begin its winter vacation early owing to the incident.
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