(PCM) Diners at a Minneapolis area Joe’s Crab Shack restaurant were deeply disturbed by an image on the top of their table as they sat down for an early birthday celebration dinner. The image was a copy of an old black and white lynching photograph depicting a black man facing the gallows in front of a large crowd in what appears to be a town square. It was captioned “Hanging in Groesbeck, Texas on April 12, 1895.”
Joe’s Crab Shack are known for being very tongue-in-cheek with their humor and advertising, but they may have taken it a bit too far, as they added a thought bubble to the image above the man head who is about to be killed that read “All I said was ‘I didn’t like the gumbo!'” Wow!
The diner, who happened to be African American, says she was incredibly offended by the image and went on to say “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.”
Joe’s Crab Shack has issued a statement following the incident which says “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.”
It is unclear how that photo managed to slip by when the restaurant was putting together their decor, but it is definitely a good thing that it was removed. Executions and hangings are not very appetizing!
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