IKEA Juneteenth Menu To ‘Honor Black Americans’ Under Fire For Serving Fried Chicken & Watermelon

Employees claimed fried chicken and watermelon were only a few of the products chosen to commemorate Juneteenth on a Juneteenth menu at the Atlanta-based IKEA shop, causing uproar.

CBS46 discussed the menu with IKEA workers and customers on Monday.

Employees  declined to be interviewed on video for fear of consequences, but they did say that management needed to learn more about black culture in the future.

An unnamed employee stated, “They sent the menu to us in emails.”

Employees at IKEA claimed the menu was sent to them on Friday.

In celebration of the Juneteenth holiday, they stated the menu will be provided to guests and staff as a gesture to “honor and persevere Black Americans.”

“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 employee said.

Employees complained that menu items such as fried chicken, watermelon, mac & cheese, collard greens, and other things were racially insensitive and ignorant.

“It caused a lot of people to be upset. People actually wanted to quit, people weren’t coming back to work,” one employee said.

Employees who were upset said that 33 employees phoned in sick, prompting a Saturday private email response from the store manager.

“She said I truly apologize the menu came off subjective,” one employee reported to the outlet.

Employees, on the other hand, believe that the menu’s development should have prioritized the perspectives of people of color.

“None of the coworkers who sat down to create the menu, no one was black.”

The store manager informed workers and CBS46 that the menu had altered as a result of the incident, however employees said, “They just delayed the menu by a day. Thinking that everyone who was upset by the Juneteenth menu stayed home on Juneteenth and wouldn’t notice, which just added insult to injury.”

“We asked the store manager to send us the new menu. The revised menu included collard greens, corn bread, mashed potatoes and meatloaf.”

The day following Juneteenth, a photo captured by the same employee revealed what was served at the shop.

The anonymous employee who also snapped the photo said, “Fried chicken, mac and cheese, collard greens.”

Customers also thought the menu was offensive.

“I’m just frankly disappointed in the learning process, you shouldn’t learn after you have insulted all of your black employees.”

The store manager told CBS46 News that they are sincerely sorry for what occurred and that they were mistaken about the menu.

Download ‘The Scoop TV’ video streaming app, the Conservative Alternative to Netflix!