Ikea Faces Criticism From Employees Over Juneteenth Menu
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
An Ikea in Atlanta sparked criticism among employees over its Juneteenth menu that some labeled racially insensitive.
The branch emailed staffers on Friday about a Juneteenth menu that would be served at an internal celebration to "honor and persevere Black Americans," CBS46 reported. The menu included fried chicken, watermelon, mac and cheese, collard greens, and other dishes, according to CBS46.
But some employees found the menu underscored by ignorance and said that management needed to do more to educate themselves on Black culture.
"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 told CBS46.
"It caused a lot of people to be upset. People actually wanted to quit, people weren't coming back to work," the Ikea employee added.
An Ikea representative told Insider that around 20 employees called out from work over the menu, prompting an internal email response from the store manager on Juneteenth.
In a statement to Insider, Ikea apologized for the menu and said they "got it wrong."
"In addition to offering Juneteenth as one of our paid holidays nationally, our IKEA Atlanta store has recognized Juneteenth with our co-workers for the past four years. To honor the day, a lunch menu was created with the best of intentions, including recommendations from black co-workers," the statement read.
It continued: "We value our co-workers' voices and changed the menu after receiving feedback that the foods that were selected are not reflective of the deeply meaningful traditional foods historically served as part of Juneteenth celebrations. We got it wrong and we sincerely apologize. We are committed to educating ourselves and putting a process in place that will allow us to thoughtfully honor Juneteenth in the future."
Ikea also addressed accusations that no people of color or Black employees were involved in creating the menu.
"There were Black co-workers involved in the creation of the menu," the company told Insider. "Out of respect for their privacy, we cannot go into more detail, and we take this as an important learning and shared responsibility."
According to CBS46, the store manager told staffers that the revised menu included collard greens, cornbread, mashed potatoes, and meatloaf.
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I thought for sure this was an article from the Onion. I was wrong. Man, I wish I could have been in the room to witness a bunch of white people coming up with menu suggestions for a Juneteenth celebration.
the offending management is probably still confused.
Just serve bar-b-q. That makes everybody happy
I feel like it’s kind of a trap to make a special menu for an event to celebrate black heritage. They should have just served what the always serve IMO. You just can’t say some stuff out loud even if it’s true. White people and black people both like fried chicken, but you can only talk about the white ones. Adding watermelon is like tossing a grenade into the conversation.
Watermelon was very popular among white and black southerners back before most of them had refrigerators or even electricity. It had nothing to do with slavery or oppression it was just the perfect snack food for the times, you grew it yourself so it was low cost, it didn't require refrigeration, it was sweet and tasted great, a large watermelon will feed even the largest family, and it contained lots of water so it was refreshing in the hot southern climate. If you lived in a rural southern area 90 or more years ago you probably didn't have electricity so ice cream wasn't an option. Besides who doesn't love watermelon on a hot day.
No meatballs nor smoked salmon? Sheesh!
A case of trying and failing.
Meatloaf and mashed potatoes? Sacrilege!
I could go for some greens with some hot sauce.
Never had 'em but I would try 'em. I've eaten dandelion greens with a hot bacon sauce
Iif they had served the regular menu, someone else would have bitched about it
Can't go wrong with hot dish.
Yes, you can if you cook like my aunts
No peach cobbler? I know soul food restaurants usually feature peach cobbler. And sweet potato pie.
Now, yer talkin.
I had a neighbor in Texas who made the best peach cobbler and it's not exactly one of my favorites. But when Fran brought it out I was first in line
I wouldn't consider either menu 'soul food'.
I have never been inside an Ikea. The closest one is in Houston.
I am guessing they have a cafeteria for employees? Or maybe just a restaurant for anyone.
I've never been in one either. according to my daughter, a professional shopper, there's 1 way in and one way out. they make you walk by everything they have to sell and you need a meal just to get all the way thru the place.
I actually have a wardrobe I bought from them online. The Pax closet system, or something like that. Pretty neat system with a bunch of different options. Expensive though when you ad it all up.
I always go in by the wayout door, saves a heap of time when all you want is napkins.
Is that like in through the out door. I always did that at concerts when I had to pee.
It sounds like a tasty menu to me, but if someone wants to suggest different, more appropriate foods, I'd love to hear what they might be.
Lol, I am sorry but that is just funny. Did they also offer up purple drank?