Casual seafood chain, Joe's Crab Shack has received some bad publicity last week, which according to some was well deserved.
Recently a couple who visited the Minneapolis outlet of Joe's Crab Shack were disgusted to find a photo of hanging displayed on one of the restaurant's tables.
The image was entitled, "Hanging at Groesbeck, Texas on April 12, 1985", according to reports from CBS Minnesota.
Notably, Tyrone Williams and Chauntyll Allen sat down at a Joe's in Roseville, Minn. when they discovered the decorative tabletop had a picture embedded in it "that depicted two black men being lynched by a white mob, with the caption next to one of the victims that read, 'All I said was that I didn't like the gumbo,'" according to reports from Eater.
When the couple did a quick research, while being at the restaurant, they discovered that the picture depicted a real hanging in Texas in 1986. They notified the manager of the same, who immediately apologized.
"Me and Chauntyll, we just felt sick and confused," Williams said. "It was just sickening."
Allen mentioned that the manager told her that this might not be an isolated event.
"When we talked to the manager, he said that he was pretty sure that these tables were designed by a particular person," she said, "and if that particular person had the mindset to pick that particular picture, I'm sure they picked quite a few more that are similar."
In a press release issued by the Minneapolis wing of the NAACP, president Nekima Levy - Pounds mentioned, "This disturbing incident that occurred at Joe's Crab Shack, demonstrates that racism is still alive and well in this country. It is sickening to know that someone would make a mockery of black men being savagely lynched and then use that imagery for decorative purposes in a restaurant. We demand accountability of Joe's Crab Shack for allowing racist material to appear in its restaurants. This is completely unacceptable."
NAACP will be looking forward to a public apology from the corporate office of Joe's Crab Shack, for the "immediate removal of any and all lynching or otherwise racially-offensive imagery from its restaurants," as well as "a donation to a local community-based organization that serves African American youths and teenagers."
