The Children’s Museum of Indianapolis on Friday invited people to its upcoming “Juneteenth Jamboree,” promising live performances, a showcase of local artists and other activities. In the Facebook invitation, staff did not mention a dish the museum was selling to mark the June 19 holiday: a “Juneteenth Watermelon Salad.”
A couple of hours after the museum published the Facebook post, a Black woman replied in the comments section with a photo of the salad sitting in the museum’s food court. “So y’all decided ‘hey let’s celebrate by perpetuating offensive stereotypes.’ Y’all really thought this was a good idea?”
Not long after, the museum conceded it was a bad idea. A spokesperson told The Washington Post in an email that the museum had apologized, permanently removed the salad from the food court menu and recommitted to its decades-long effort toward diversity and inclusion. In an apology posted to its website Saturday, the museum said that, although serving the watermelon salad was based on staff members’ family traditions, it acknowledges “the negative impact that stereotypes have on Black communities.”
“We deeply regret the hurt and the pain that the food offering in our food court has caused, and we apologize. It is unacceptable that this took place in our museum,” the spokesperson told The Post.
$10.00 a pop!
