A Joe’s Crab Shack in Minnesota is apologizing after diners found a photograph of a lynching being used as a table decoration.
The photograph, embedded inside the table, showed the hanging of a black man by white men.
The bottom of the picture read, "Hanging at Groesbeck, Texas, on April 12th, 1895."
A caption at the top of the photo read: "All I said was that I didn't like the gumbo!"
According to MPR News, diners Tyrone Williams and Chauntyll Allen spotted the offensive photo.
"They are trying to make a joke out of our black bodies being lynched and I had a real problem with that," Allen said.
The Minneapolis NAACP believes that the photo was intentionally placed and demanded that the corporate offices of Joe's Crab Shack immediately apologize.
The group also demanded the 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.
"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," said Nekima Levy-Pounds, president of the Mineapolis NAACP.
“We sincerely apologize to our guests who were disturbed by the image and we look forward to continuing to serve the Roseville community,” David Catalano, COO of Joe’s Crab Shack’s parent company, wrote.
Catalano said the image was immediately removed.
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