In honor of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, Milwaukee-based Penzey's Spices is offering a free "Mini Soul Box" featuring a "chicken and ribs" rub called "33rd and Galena"--an intersection in a predominantly black neighborhood in Milwaukee's inner city.
As Right Wisconsin, which was first to report on Penzey's potentially offensive giveaway, noted:
We can’t wait to see what Penzey gives away on Jackie Robinson’s birthday. But despite the culturally insensitive promotion of a free chicken rub on Martin Luther King day, it’s Republicans that are the racists, according to Penzey.
“This time, voting for the Republican’s [sic] openly racist candidate was itself an act of racism,” Penzey wrote in a Facebook post. “This time there’s no excuse.”
In that lengthy Facebook post, Penzey's owner Bill Penzey called anyone who voted for President Donald Trump a racist:
The irony, of course, is that racist stereotypes about African-Americans eating fried chicken and ribs have been around for more than a century, and Penzey appears to be perpetuating them by offering a free "chicken and ribs" rub (named after an African-American neighborhood) as part of a "Mini Soul Box" on a day celebrating an African-American civil rights icon.