Children's Museum Apologizes After Selling Juneteenth Watermelon Salad

INDIANAPOLIS, IN — An Indiana museum has apologized after the institution received criticism on social media for serving a watermelon salad in connection with Juneteenth.

The Children’s Museum of Indianapolis published a post Friday on Facebook, promoting its Juneteenth Jamboree. In the comments, a woman posted a photo of a food container labeled “Juneteenth Watermelon Salad.”

“So y’all decided ‘hey let’s celebrate by perpetuating offensive stereotypes,’” the woman said. “Y’all really thought this was a good idea?”

The museum initially responded in a comment, telling the woman the salad should have been accompanied by a label explaining the history and meaning of the food item.

“We understand how this appears with no context and we apologize,” the museum said. “We are pulling it from our food court immediately until the sign is ready to accompany it. There’s a lot of research that goes into the food choices we make for special events. Watermelon, along with other red foods, are a staple of Juneteenth Celebrations, including our food court manager’s family Juneteenth celebrations.”

The comment, according to the Washington Post, was originally accompanied by an image of the label, which explained red food, including watermelon, features prominently on Juneteenth menus. The label also included a misattributed quote that was actually from Adrian Miller, discussing how red evokes a cultural memory of enslaved ancestors’ bloodshed, the Washington Post reported.

“Nice backpedaling but It's extremely tone deaf to not realize that many of your patrons could possibly (and do) find this offensive due to stereotypes that still currently exist,” the woman who posted the photo of the salad said in a follow-up comment. “A watermelon salad to represent the blood of my ancestors. Oh yay! Take my money please!”

Juneteenth is held annually on June 19 to celebrate the end of slavery in the U.S. and commemorate the date when many slaves in Texas learned they were free. It became a federal holiday in 2021.

Watermelon was commonly grown and sold by southern African Americans following Emancipation, and, at one point, it represented self-sufficiency, according to the National Museum of African American History and Culture. However, the fruit was turned into a symbol of poverty by southern whites, according to the museum.

Other Facebook commenters called the salad “not acceptable,” “beyond offensive,” and “very distasteful and disrespectful.”

The children’s museum later updated its Facebook comment to clarify that the salad had been permanently removed. The museum also published a prepared statement.

“As a museum, we apologize and acknowledge the negative impact that stereotypes have on Black communities,” the statement said, adding the museum is reviewing how best to change the way selections are made by its food service provider.