Calls to boycott a popular Black-owned Atlanta restaurant continued Monday in response to one of the owners posing for pictures with Republican gubernatorial nominee Rick Jackson.
The uproar comes amid a pivotal general election battle for Black voter support.
While Democrats have relied more heavily on Black voters to win statewide elections, President Donald Trump has helped the GOP make small gains with their most loyal voting bloc.
Despite recent declines in support for Trump, Jackson has made capturing the appeal Trump once held with some Black voters a central focus in his effort to defeat Keisha Lance Bottoms, the Democratic nominee vying to become the first Black woman governor in U.S. history.
The trouble began July 14 after Jackson visited Toast On Lenox — a brunch-themed eatery and celebrity hot spot with locations in Buckhead and Midtown — for a lengthy conversation with Tamara Young, who co-owns the restaurant with chef Virgil Harper.
Jackson also took photos with Young before sharing them on social media.
“As governor, I’ll fight for all Georgians, including Tamara, whose story as a successful owner of Toast On Lenox not only inspiring to me, but to anyone looking to create opportunity in our state,” Jackson wrote in a since-deleted post on X.
Black users on sites such as Facebook, X, Instagram, and Threads expressed anger with Young in the days that followed for meeting and being photographed with Jackson, who has likened himself to Trump. Jackson, the billionaire co-founder of Jackson Healthcare, has endorsed most of Trump’s policies and has campaigned on being “Trump’s favorite governor” if elected.
Critics take issue with Trump and his MAGA supporters for policies linked to growing economic hardship among Black Americans.
“Giving THIS CURRENT VERSION of the Republican Party a platform is not some neutral act,” Isaac Hayes III wrote on X Thursday. “A conversation becomes legitimacy. A microphone becomes amplification.”
“Thank you Toast on Lenox for showing us where not to spend our money,” account user Carlton A. said on Threads, echoing many boycott cries shared online over the weekend.
“Black Atlanta, you should not be visiting Toast On Lenox until the owner issues a statement on where her support for the governor’s election lies,” user ShawtyKeish added on X. “Rick Jackson does not support nor give a damn about the plight of Black people in Georgia. Check out his ads.”
Jackson’s campaign said they deleted the post to avoid bringing more backlash to Young and Toast On Lenox.
Some Black conservatives, including prominent radio host Shelley Wynter and right-wing activist CJ Pearson, defended Young and her restaurant by accusing critics of cancel culture and selective outrage.
“I thought the Left supported black owned businesses?” Pearson wrote on X. “I thought they believed that Black Lives Matter?”
Wynter referred to the boycott calls as “the stupidest, craziest, most childish thing I’ve ever seen in my life,” on his radio show and pointed out boycotting would take money out of the pockets of a Black woman entrepreneur, members of her staff, and their families.
“None of these so-called social influencers care about that,” Wynter said in a clip shared Saturday on Facebook. “You don’t really care about that community of which you claim to care so much about if you’re willing to boycott a business owner simply for having a conversation with one of two people who may be running the state of Georgia after November.”
Jackson later expressed gratitude to Wynter for coming to Young’s defense.
“Thank you, @shelleywynter1, for your willingness to speak up,” Jackson wrote on X. “Cancel culture has no place in Georgia.”
Toast on Lenox clarified on Friday that Young’s sit-down with Jackson was not an endorsement.
“Like many other business owners, we often take photos with customers, public figures, entertainers and athletes, who visit our restaurant,” Toast On Lenox’s co-owners wrote in a post on Instagram. “The photo that was shared was simply a picture taken during his visit to our establishment. Any statements made in that post were his own and do not represent our personal beliefs or the position of Toast on Lenox.”
Bottoms joined the fray Saturday as the uproar gained traction, telling followers on Instagram not to let her rival’s “photo opps” stand in for his own words.
“I don’t post each time I support a small or minority owned business because it’s not for show or for votes,” Bottoms wrote in the caption of a video shared on Instagram. “Rick Jackson is playing in our faces, but in November, we will get the last laugh.”
Jackson’s campaign fired back Sunday by accusing Bottoms of amplifying calls to boycott a Black-owned business.
“It’s shameful what Keisha Lance Bottoms has done to inflame the situation,” Jackson spokesperson Garrison Douglas told Capital B Atlanta on Sunday. “It’s clear as day that in her mind, if you’re a black business owner, that conversations like these should not be happening with folks like Rick Jackson and Republicans.”
Douglas, who previously worked for GOP Gov. Brian Kemp, pointed out that Kemp and other Republicans have met with Black entrepreneurs during campaign stops and political engagements without the same level of outrage.
Tuesday’s Toast On Lenox visit was the latest in a series of Jackson visits with Black business leaders. His campaign made it clear Sunday that the outrage won’t dissuade Jackson from continuing his Black-engagement strategy.
“Rick Jackson is going to talk to Georgia voters of all communities and share with them his vision for Georgia and want to hear from them about what they need in order to be successful and thrive in this state,” Douglas said. “That is absolutely going to continue happening.”
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