A Joe’s Crab Shack in Minnesota offered a sincere apology earlier this week after offending two customers with a picture in the restaurant’s dining area.
Tyrone Williams and his friend Chauntyll Allen went to Joe’s on Wednesday to celebrate Chauntyll’s birthday. As they prepared to order, Williams noticed the picture decorating their table . It was a picture, dated April 12th 1895, of a black man being hanged at a public execution and surrounded by several white people.
The caption read, “All I said was that I didn’t like the gumbo.”
It was an unsettling sight for Williams. USA Today quoted the young man’s troubled reaction.
“This type of blatant racism should not be tolerated in this country, or in our local and national eating establishments. I have felt sick to my stomach and stressed out since seeing that image on the table where I was planning to eat my food.”
Joe’s Crab Shack apologizes for photo of lynching https://t.co/ICpqawebQM via @USATODAY
— David Jones (@davidjones720) March 11, 2016
Williams said that even though the manager apologized, he still felt that Joe’s put the picture on the table deliberately, and that it was “sickening.”
Allen was upset by the picture on the table, as well.
“Seeing a picture of two black men being lynched was the last thing that I expected to see at what was supposed to be a family-friendly restaurant.”
She also believes they used the picture intentionally.
“As you can imagine, seeing that image ruined my appetite and my pre-birthday dinner. It is hard to believe that this type of racism is still going on in 2016.”
Nekima Levy-Pounds, the president of the Minneapolis NAACP, agrees with Williams and Allen.
“[Someone] deliberately placed the image inside of the table. [It] demonstrates that racism is still alive and well in this country.”
Levy-Pounds said it was “sickening” of Joe’s to make a “mockery” of a black man’s execution by using it as decor in a restaurant.
“There’s no way that anyone will expect to see such a grotesque scene being depicted while you are there trying to eat your dinner.”
Smh RT @NYDailyNews : Joe’s Crab Shack apologizes after using a photo of a black man’s 1895 hanging as decoration pic.twitter.com/Tu9VO2m4eq
— Miss Kia (@Kia4Realz) March 11, 2016
COO Ignite Restaurant Group addressed the offensive picture on the table in a statement reported by KTVU News .
“We understand one of the photos used in our table decor at our Joe’s Crab Shack location in Roseville, MN was offensive. We sincerely apologize to our guests who were disturbed by the image and we look forward to continuing to serve the Roseville community.”
The apology followed a picture of the table Williams posted on social media Wednesday night from Joe’s and his comment beneath it. He described the picture, stating that it was sad that “a brother couldn’t get a break,” and neither could he and Allen. He said that they just wanted to enjoy some seafood, but they had to leave because they could not “take anymore.”
However, despite the formal apology, Allen is still angry.
“They are trying to make a joke out of our black bodies being lynched and I had a real problem with that.”
Levy-Pounds called the incident unacceptable and a “travesty of justice.” She demands that the company issue a public apology immediately and that they ensure the removal of all offensive, racial pictures, including any similar to the lynching image from every Joe’s Crab Shack and affiliated stores countrywide.
She also recommended that the corporate office issue a donation to a local group in the community that offers programs for African-American teens.
[Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images]
