A Joe’s Crab Shack restaurant in Roseville, Minnesota, has issued an apology for displaying a historical photo of a lynching.
Chauntyll Allen and Tyrone Williams encountered the image embedded in the table during a
recent visit to the restaurant, Minnesota Public Radio reported. "Hanging in Groesbeck, Texas, on April 12, 1895," read the caption on the photo, along with a cartoon bubble that said: "All I said was that I didn't like the gumbo."
"They are trying to make a joke out of our black bodies being lynched and I had a real problem with that," Allen told MPR.
The pair confronted the manager, who apologized and said the image would be removed.
The Minneapolis NAACP demanded an
immediate public apology, KARE-TV reported.
"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. 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," Allen told the station.
The restaurant’s parent company issued the following statement: "We understand one of the photos used in our table décor at our Joe's Crab Shack location in Roseville, MN, was offensive. We take this matter very seriously, and the photo in question was immediately removed. We sincerely apologize to our guests who were disturbed by the image and we look forward to continuing to serve the Roseville community."
Willams posted the image to Facebook on Wednesday, and his post was shared more than 1,500 times by midday Friday.
Twitter users were outraged by the lynching photo.
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