Woman's post about 'Back the Blue' sign in Jackson coffee shop prompts firing from nearby bar

The woman whose social-media post about a “Back the Blue” sign displayed at a Jackson business sparked controversy said she was fired for her remarks after her employer learned of the situation.

Cape Girardeau resident and Southeast Missouri State University student Brandi Wilson told the Southeast Missourian on Monday in a phone interview she posted on the Ground-A-Bout’s Facebook page last Tuesday after taking issue with the “Back the Blue” sign in the coffee shop’s window.

Wilson said she found the sign disconcerting as a black woman who lived for 10 years in Ferguson, Missouri.

“The coffee was really good, and I was actually going to ask to speak to the owner, but they weren’t there,” she said.

Instead, she posted on the coffee shop’s Facebook, where Bob Schooley, owner of the Ground-A-Bout, replied in defense of the sign. Schooley, a former Cape Girardeau County sheriff’s deputy, said in an interview Monday his business supports diversity.

“Race, religion [and] culture couldn’t be further from our minds with regards to the meaning of this sign,” Schooley said.

That, Wilson said, was precisely the problem: Race and culture weren’t given enough consideration.

“There are so many other things you can say (to express support for police), so I just thought it was insensitive,” she said.

“I was like, ‘You know what? Maybe they don’t know that. So I’ll just say it this way. ... Hey, this is my experience, this is the way it made me feel ... I felt uncomfortable.’ I felt as though [the business owners] weren’t being aware that [they] have more than one audience.”

Wilson said she hoped Schooley might consider ways to support police without using politically charged messaging.

He said the sign is only meant to show support for law enforcement, not as a political statement.

He added the “Back the Blue” slogan predates the Black Lives Matter movement.

Wilson said regardless of Schooley’s intent or when the slogan was coined, it is used and perceived in the same way as “Blue Lives Matter” and “All Lives Matter,” which were conceived to oppose Black Lives Matter.

“I understand the intent,” she said. “That’s why we have to have the conversation.”

The conversation, however, soon got out of hand.

Hundreds of commenters weighed in on the situation, many denouncing Wilson.

Blogs began to share the Facebook exchange.

The blowback against Wilson was so bitter, Schooley called some of the comments “disgusting.”

“Obviously when people show overwhelming support for something you said, there’s a tendency to feel validated, but I say that with sadness,” he said. “It’s upsetting. We feel sorry for any negative repercussions (she received.)”

Wilson worked up the street at an upscale bar called Barrel 131, and Wednesday, the day after writing the initial post, she said her bosses discussed the situation with her and fired her.

“That’s the reason that was put down that I was fired,” she said. “I know that’s why I was fired, and that’s the reason they told me. They didn’t give me some runaround. They said, ‘No. It’s just that there are people who will not come drink here if you’re working here.’”

Joe Hobbs, one of Barrel 131’s owners, declined to comment Monday, citing personnel confidentiality.

He would not confirm or deny discussing the Ground-A-Bout situation with Wilson.

Wilson said she understands her former employers’ position as business owners, but she expressed her disappointment with the ethical implications of her firing.

“I stand up for myself. I say, ‘Hey, I don’t like this; this makes me uncomfortable,’ and you fire me from my job. What does that tell people?” she said. “That tells people they shouldn’t respectfully stand up for themselves and say what things bother them, and that just reinforces a broken system.”

tgraef@semissourian.com

(573) 388-3627