This is utterly mystifying. IKEA is supposed to be a well-run progressive company. How could any sophisticated business this size be this stupid and ignorant? Juneteenth is a holiday meant to encourage learning about the horrors of slavery. It appears that some are further back than others, even giant companies.
Yes, IKEA’s menu to honor Juneteenth included fried chicken and watermelon. According to the CBS 46 [1] website:
A Juneteenth menu is serving up controversy at the Atlanta-based IKEA store, after employees said fried chicken and watermelon, were just some items selected to honor Juneteenth. CBS46 Tori Cooper spoke to IKEA employees and customers about the menu Monday.
The employees we spoke to did not want to go on camera over fear of repercussions, but they said that management needs to do more to educate themselves on black culture moving forward.”
Management said it was to honor Black Americans. It is true that some holidays use local or traditional cuisine to honor that culture (St. Patrick’s Day, et. al. . But this is not “local cuisine” and it has been used as a hurtful stereotype for decades. An IKEA employee summed it up perfectly:
“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.”
The entire point of celebrating Juneteenth is to educate people and remember the horrors of slavery. Like most people, we continue to learn. Apparently, IKEA is learning, too. The report says that they’ve changed to “collard greens, cornbread, mashed potatoes and meatloaf.” True southern soul food without the racial stereotypes.
Despite the appropriate ultimate decision, it is shocking that the decision was made in the first place:
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Peace, y’all
Jason
[email protected] and on Twitter @JasonMiciak