Meet The Mississippi Baker Who Refuses To Discriminate

As a baker and small business owner, I meet all kinds of people. I am truly blessed to have a job where I get to wake up each day and make people happy. People come into my bakery looking for sweets to celebrate life’s most special moments.

Since 1962, we have been baking up delicious memories from scratch in Jackson, Mississippi, a place I’m proud to call home.

While my job is fun, I also take my responsibility to serve the public seriously. That means quality control with my products, and it means providing nothing less than excellent customer service to each and every patron who walks into my store. It’s my job to judge the quality of my flour; not the race, religion or any other identities of my customers.

It is not my job to turn someone away because I don’t like who they are or what their beliefs are.

My bakery is very much part of the fabric of the neighborhood, and I recognize that my baked goods should be enjoyed by every walk of life. That’s why I was saddened to learn about Masterpiece Cakeshop in Colorado turning away a couple because they are gay. It doesn’t matter whether or not they approve of gay people, or whether or not I do.

As business owners serving the public, we don’t have a right to deny people service just because of who they are.

I am proud to be from Mississippi, where my Southern hospitality and Christian faith are strong. I take great pride in having the freedom to be who I am and living in our great nation made up of many different kinds of people who believe many different things. I may not agree with everything that everyone believes, but as a service industry professional, it is my duty to serve each and every one of them.

I get up before the sun each morning because I love the smiles I put on people’s faces when they come into my store and enjoy a baked good.

I love getting to witness the bond between loved ones—the delight on a kid’s face as he gets to pick out which treat he wants as a reward for a good report card; the tenderness of a wife as she picks out dessert to surprise her spouse after a hard week at work; that cake that’s special ordered to celebrate a new job, a big birthday or retirement.

When a couple comes into my bakery to pick out a wedding cake, they are incredibly excited.

It is a day they will remember forever. Who am I to take that away from them?

Originally published by The Clarion-Ledger; Photo via James Nord; Originally published in July 2015