“We want to acknowledge some feedback received regarding our Juneteenth celebration,” Pezzuto said in his letter obtained by The North Carolina Beat. “Although our intent was to celebrate this nationally recognized day, some of you voiced your concerns regarding the associated food choices.”

In other words, we’re sorry you were offended.

    • Warl0k3@lemmy.world
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      5 months ago

      The issue is having just fried chicken and watermelon, which are tied to extremely racist stereotypes.

    • growsomethinggood ()@reddthat.com
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      5 months ago

      I’m not seeing fried chicken on that article though, just barbecue (which could be chicken or not, but wouldn’t be fried). Judging by the company response, someone over there is definitely being an asshole, even if there are elements that are traditional.

    • tburkhol@lemmy.world
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      5 months ago

      Looks to me like BBQ chicken would have been more appropriate, but I’m a white guy, so I’m going to say that I have no place picking a corporate Juneteenth menu. I’m not even sure it’s appropriate for a corp to have a Juneteenth celebration - give people the freedom to recognize it however they like, without the oversight of corporate bosses. It’s like having a corporate seder for rosh hashanah or an eid al-Fitr: guaranteed to go badly.

      If the corp does insist on having a party, they need to have members of the relevant community as prominent organizers, not some dude named Pezzuto. A white guy planning Juneteenth is going to be either condescending or cultural appropriation.

      • Y|yukichigai@lemmy.sdf.org
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        5 months ago

        It’s like having a corporate seder for rosh hashanah or an eid al-Fitr: guaranteed to go badly.

        Good point. Even if they stick within the “rules” the risk of it coming off poorly is too high, same as any cultural-specific holiday.