Officials of the Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa in Atlantic City say they intended to honor the late civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King on his birthday with the “Martin Luther King, Jr. Special” at the casino’s Metropolitan restaurant. However, the menu drew the ire of many African-Americans.
After seeing the menu—fried chicken, macaroni and cheese, sweet potato casserole, and collard greens for a main entrée and home-style pecan pie for dessert—many took to Twitter to protest what they saw as racist stereotyping. “Borgata has to be clueless,” one critic wrote. “And has no PR department. And is run by whites.”
The Twitter tweets went viral, with hundreds of shares, prompting a response and explanation from the casino. “We intended to honor the weekend by offering some of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s favorite foods as reported by many sources,” the casino tweeted.
In an interview with The Press of Atlantic City, Borgata Senior Vice President Joe Lupo said the menu was researched by the manager of the Metropolitan restaurant, an African-American woman, who identified King’s favorite dishes with the intention of honoring him. “Borgata’s only intention, and her only intention, was to honor the (holiday) weekend,” Lupo said. “We were surprised that there were so much negative comments, but we probably could have communicated better that it was done so that it was his favorite foods.”
Lupo added that other casino restaurants frequently offer ethnic specials, like Mexican cuisine for Cinco De Mayo and Irish specialties on St. Patrick’s day. The menu items were typical Southern comfort food items that King loved. National Public Radio’s food blog reported that King often had strategy sessions at an Atlanta restaurant specializing in fried chicken, catfish, collard greens and other Southern food.
