UC Irvine: MLK Day Chicken And Waffles Menu Was In Poor Taste
IRVINE (AP) — A California university says it was bad taste to serve chicken and waffles on Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
Officials at the University of California, Irvine, say the menu of stereotypical black food was served on Jan. 17 -- the first day of the school's annual Martin Luther King Jr. symposium.
The dining hall advertised the meal as an "MLK Holiday Special."
The co-chairman of the school's Black Student Union and another student lodged formal complaints.
University spokeswoman Cathy Lawhon tells the Los Angeles Times that the cafeteria staff made a last-minute decision about the menu. She says the intention was to offer holiday comfort food. The company that runs the cafeteria says it will conduct cultural sensitivity training for its chefs and managers.
The menu flap at UC Irvine was the second MLK Day-related flap in Orange County.
A surf shop in Laguna Beach advertised 20 percent off all black items in honor of MLK Day, and superimposed Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s head on a body wearing a wet suit. The shop, named Thalia, later apologized and said no offense was intended by the ad.
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