Kali Wilgus and Liz “LC” Connelly are two millennial friends who traveled to Baja California on vacation and discovered what they thought might be the best burritos they had ever had. So with a little experimentation and reverse engineering, the two women started a little business in their hometown of Portland they called “Kooks Burritos.”

But when they told their story to a local paper, social media trolls accused them of cultural appropriation* and forced the business to close. Wilgus and Connelly are white – and their accusers say they appropriated Mexican culture for profit. The controversy has gone viral with numerous news stories.

Abraham Hamilton III of the American Family Association says political correctness has gotten out of hand.

Hamilton

“How can we maintain this great experiment that is America, that is built on a free exchange of ideas, if you’re only allowed to participate in the free exchange of ideas if you have the politically correct idea?” he asks.

Many of the news reports suggest that only white people can be guilty of cultural appropriation – such as when they wear dreadlocks, or use slang associated with black culture, or wear Indian jewelry.

A news story about the demise of Kooks showed up on a newsfeed that is displayed on the City of Portland’s Office of Equity and Human Rights website.

“I’m extremely concerned about this,” Hamilton responds, “because you literally have a government entity [implying] you cannot operate this business because of your skin color.” And that, he adds, is “the literal antithesis of what Dr. Martin Luther King fought for.”

In that famous speech, MLK said: “I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.”

* Adopting aspects of a culture that’s not their own