GROSS

Indianapolis Children’s Museum Under Fire for Juneteenth-Themed Watermelon Salad

The salad was removed from the menu, but not before the museum tried to defend their actions on Facebook.

The Children’s Museum of Indianapolis is facing backlash thanks to its controversial Juneteenth menu, which opted to include a pre-packaged watermelon salad. Folks online are outraged over a photo of the salad that started to make its way across social media. The museum is currently celebrating its “Juneteenth Jamboree,” featuring an array of events meant to spotlight the African-American community in Indianapolis. “As a museum, we apologize and acknowledge the negative impact that stereotypes have on communities of color,” the museum said in a statement. “The salad has been removed from the menu. We are currently reviewing how we may best convey these stories and traditions during this year’s Juneteenth celebration as well as making changes around how future food selections are made by our food service provider.” On Facebook, the museum tried to justify the salad by saying that the watermelon salad is a staple in the food court manager’s family’s Juneteenth celebration. Still, folks online accused the museum of not communicating with Black community members in planning their Juneteenth programming.