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An IKEA store in Atlanta apologized after employees and customers complained about a Juneteenth meal that included fried chicken and watermelon.
An internal email informed IKEA staff members there would be a “special meal” intended to honor the “perseverance of Black Americans and acknowledge progress yet to be made,” according to TMZ. It was supposed to be served on Saturday, the day of Juneteenth.
The menu consisted of several items including fried chicken, watermelon, potato salad, collard greens, yams and macaroni and cheese. It did not go over well with employees who considered it “racially insensitive and ignorant.”
“You cannot say serving watermelon on Juneteenth is a soul food menu when you don’t even know the history, they used to feed slaves watermelon during the slave time,” an anonymous IKEA employee told WGCL-TV.
Sources claim 33 workers called out on Juneteenth and others threatened to quit.
“It caused a lot of people to be upset,” one IKEA staff member said. “People actually wanted to quit, people weren’t coming back to work.”
A store manager reportedly apologized to the staff in an internal email and the menu was changed. The new spread included mashed potatoes, meat loaf, collard greens and cornbread.
However, the anonymous employees stated the Juneteenth menu was pushed to Sunday.
“They just delayed the menu by a day,” a source told WGCL-TV. “Thinking that everyone who was upset by the Juneteenth menu stayed home on Juneteenth and wouldn’t notice, which just added insult to injury.”
IKEA Atlanta apologized for the menu in a statement. They claim the meal was supposed to be an “internal celebration.”
“In addition to offering Juneteenth as one of our paid holidays nationally, our IKEA Atlanta store has recognized Juneteenth with our co-workers for the past four years. To honor the day, a lunch menu was created with the best of intentions, including recommendations from black co-workers,” an IKEA spokesperson said.
“We value our co-workers’ voices and changed the menu after receiving feedback that the foods that were selected are not reflective of the deeply meaningful traditional foods historically served as part of Juneteenth celebrations,” the statement continued. “We got it wrong and we sincerely apologize. We are committed to educating ourselves and putting a process in place that will allow us to thoughtfully honor Juneteenth in the future.”