Joe's Crab Shack apologizes for a lynching photo on a dining table in Minnesota

on wednesday night, a black couple were dining at a joe's crab shack restaurant in roseville, minnesota. chauntyll allen and tyrone williams noticed a photo embedded inside their table top of a large group of white people watching at least one black person being lynched.

on the bottom of the picture it reads, "hanging at groesbeck, texas on april 12th 1985." at the top of the caption it says, "all i said was that i didn't like the gumbo."

the couple immediately spoke to a manager. "although the manager was apologetic about the lynching depiction, that does not change the fact that this sickening image of black men being lynched was intentionally embedded inside of a table," said williams.

allen said, "seeing a picture of two black men being lynched was the last thing that i expected to see at what was supposed to be a family-friendly restaurant. as you can imagine, seeing that imagine ruined my appetite and my pre-birthday dinner. it is hard to believe that this type of racism is still going on in 2016."

"this disturbing incident that occurred at joe's crab shack, demonstrates that racism is still alive and well in this country. it is sickening to know that someone would make a mockery of black men being savagely lynched and then use that imagery for decorative purposes," said nekima levy-pounds, minneapolis naacp president.

the minneapolis naacp is demanding an immediate public apology by the corporate offices of joe's crab shack. they want: 1) prompt removal "of any and all lynching or otherwise racially-offensive imagery," from its restaurants; and 2) a donation to a local community-based organization serving african-american youths and teenagers.

david catalano, coo ignite restaurant group, joe's crab shack parent company said,"we understand one of the photos used in our table decor at joe's crab shack restaurant in roseville, minnesota was offensive. we take this matter very seriously, and the photo in question was immediately removed. we sincerely apologize to our guests who were disturbed by the image and we look forward to continuing to serve the roseville community."     

the city of roseville issued its own statement friday, calling on the restaurant chain to make sure this type of imagery is not displayed anywhere else. they stated, "the city of roseville was shocked and saddened to learn of the racist imagery being openly displayed at the roseville location of national restaurant joe's crab shack."

their statement also said, "the city condemns this type of display in the strongest possible terms and calls on joe's crab shack to remove any and all racist imagery not only from its roseville location, but all of its restaurants nationwide immediately. this type of display is wholly unacceptable and unwelcome in the city of roseville."