OAKLAND - Tragedy fell to popular West Oakland eatery Horn Barbecue on Tuesday morning, November 21st, just two days before Thanksgiving, as a fire was set to its building at 2534 Mandela Parkway.
And that was just two days after vandals painted graffiti on Horn Barbecue’s building, and even its parked delivery van. The Oakland Fire Department (OFD) reported that it responded to the fire at Horn Barbecue at 4:19 AM PST on that day, and that the fire began in the rear of the restaurant and firefighters arrived to find smoke coming out of the attic, according to OFD Spokesman Michael Hunt.
The horror was enough, but what came after was just as bad: media coverage from SFGate.com reflecting the worst racial stereotypes about African Americans in business, and with zero consideration for the West Oakland crime problem or the lingering effects of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Oakland restaurants.
Rather than explain how Oakland businesses have been the focus of crimes, the SFGate news reporter named Madilynne Medina took the moment of intense tragedy to refocus on the racist media theme that Horn Barbecue Oakland (located at 2534 Mandela Pkwy in West Oakland) has questionable financial behavior, AKA: “Here’s another black business that doesn’t pay its bills.” Moreover, never once did Ms. Medina even mention the impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Horn BBQ’s bottom line.
Madilynne Medina’s message was that Horn Barbecue deserved the vandalism that happened to it. Most of the article was used to reintroduce themes SFGate.com and the San Francisco Chronicle issued last year.
Moreover, Hearst Corporation assigned not one, but now four writers to the subject of Horn Barbecue: the aforementioned Madilynne Medina, Nico Madrigal-Yankowski, Cesar Hernandez, and Alex Shultz. Of them, Alex Shultz is listed as the “politics editor for SFGATE”. Alex Shultz also had a hand in the more recent hit job done by Ms. Medina. And as the count tallies, that’s not one, but two political hit jobs done by SFGate to Horn Barbecue.
The Hearst Corporation publications and editors did this in the middle of a crime investigation – a problem of vandalism pointed to by none other than Oakland District Three Councilmember Carroll Fife. Moreover, SFGate linked to its past negative articles made in an effort to boost the narrative that there’s something wrong with Horn Barbecue.
Horn Barbecue Wants SFGate And Other Media Publications To Stop Racial Bias In Reporting
Horn Barbecue is calling for SFGate.com and other media publications to avoid racial bias in reporting. SFGate left out mention of the fact that over 11,000 East Bay Businesses closed during the Pandemic. SFGate didn't report that on Wednesday, November 22, a day after Horn Barbecue was hit, three restaurants and a retail shop were robbed along Broadway in Oakland's Temescal neighborhood. SFGate never brought up the horrible property crimes done to many Oakland small businesses.
SFGate should appologize to Horn Barbecue.
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