Mark Stone is having a very bad week, and it’s completely of his own creation.
It all started on Sunday, when, according to witnesses, a Bay Area popcorn salesman was working alone in the Emeryville location of an upscale popcorn shop, Cornology, and about ten black teenagers entered the store.
The lone worker apparently had a problem with his young clientele.
When the group in question entered the Cornology store, Aisha Weber said the man behind the counter threw up his arms and told the visitors to leave.
“He said, ‘Get out of here n—s,’ and he was throwing his hands in the air,” Weber said.
Fay Eastman and Weber, who saw the incident unfold in its entirety, said the shop worker said “n—” multiple times.
The Emeryville police were called, and no arrests were made.
That wasn’t enough for Eastman. Following the old adage of “if you see something, say something,” she tried to convert the incident into a teaching moment.
Eastman said she spoke with the Cornology worker after the group left the store and told him he should not use that type of language with young people.
“Those types of moments shape their world for the rest of their life,” she said. “I thought I could rationalize it and explain that to him, but nope. He really didn’t understand why he shouldn’t have said what he said.”
The worker declined to provide his name when confronted after the altercation, both women said.
Eastman was so disgusted by the situation, she snapped a picture of the man, and posted it to Facebook, where it quickly went viral.
After the post went viral, the San Francisco Chronicle reached out to Stone on Tuesday. The owner and CEO of Cornology told quite a different story than eyewitnesses.
The CEO, Mark Stone, said in an interview that he wasn’t involved in the incident. He said one of his employees shouted “n—” while chasing a group of roughly 25 juveniles from the store who had taken popcorn, soda and change from a tip jar.
Not only did Stone increase the number of kids from 10 to 25, but he also painted them as criminal popcorn thieves. Guess that employee thinks the crime makes it okay to hurl racial slurs, right?
Eastman and Weber said the juveniles were not stealing, but reacted to the behavior of the worker by knocking over items in the store.
“I didn’t see those kids running out with bags of popcorn. He just didn’t want them in the store,” said Eastman.
As backlash increased, and Cornology’s social media sites were flooded with negative reviews, Stone was forced to address the incident on social media. Predictably, he also made more excuses for his employee to the press.
“Regretfully, you can’t take back something that was in the heat of the moment. We’re very sorry that was the result of what happened,” said Stone.
“Unfortunately, some employees were sick over the weekend, so there was only one person in the store. It startled him. He regrets it terribly. It’s not who he is or who we are.”
He also boasted that it was business as usual at Cornology, because apparently nobody cares about black kids, unless they’re “startled” by them, apparently.
In the days since, Stone said business has continued as normal at the Emeryville Cornology, despite growing outrage.
“We’re hoping (for) the community, while maybe not to forgive us, but to have a little more understanding of the situation,” he said.
Actually, a lot more understanding was needed.
On Wednesday, after much speculation, and after Stone had dodged further media inquiries, an Emeryville city official confirmed that the man in Eastman’s Facebook photo wasn’t just a racist Cornology employee: he was actually, in fact, Mark Stone, the racist Cornology CEO.
So what’s the next move when you’re an easily-startled, youth-hating bigot who just got caught in a popcorn ball of a lie?
Stone justified it, of course (and continued to maintain it was a robbery).
“I am deeply sorry for what I did in the heat of a very tense moment during a robbery on Sunday,” Stone wrote to Eater SF. “I reacted improperly during a very tense moment. I have sought forgiveness with GOD, Family and friends.”
He made a similar statement to the Chronicle. Neither statement addressed why he lied about a nonexistent employee.
“I have great remorse and much regret in the way I reacted to a robbery taking place in the store on Sunday,” Stone said to me in an email Wednesday afternoon.
“I reacted unprofessionally in the heat & extreme stress of the moment. For that I seek forgiveness from GOD, my family and friends.”
The kids made him do it, of course. It was all the tension that made him forget to hide his racism, you see? It would have never happened if it wasn’t for those dang black kids! He said another person said it because he would NEVER say such a thing so it must have been someone else!
Anyway, Stone’s bad week continued Thursday, when the city government got involved.
(Emeryville) Mayor John Bauters told the Chronicle he plans to meet privately with witnesses and local businesses owners regarding the incident.
(Bauters) applauded Eastman and Weber “for standing up to racism on behalf of our community” and said he supported their efforts.“The responsibility to call out racism and hold others accountable cannot and should not be the sole responsibility of people of color,” Bauters said. “This an obligation we share as a society.”
As for business at Cornology, where even unpopped popcorn cost $9.95/lb., It appears to be taking a hit.
In the wake of the incident, business has been slow at Cornology in Emeryville. The shop’s social media accounts all have either been deactivated or flooded with negative reviews.
Time will tell whether Bay Area popcorn fanatics will be able to keep up a Cornology boycott, or whether Mark Stone will ever take responsibility for his actions, which is the first step to true growth.