NYACK, New York – Bed Bath & Beyond has removed black jack-o’-lanterns from its website after some compared them to blackface.
It all started when a law firm in Nyack, New York displayed the pumpkins along with the names of the partners on the porch outside their office.
They were up for less than 48-hours before they were removed when the law office received a complaint.
“We understand that someone complained about them and so once we got word of that we immediately took them down,” Mary Marzolla, a partner at the law firm, told News 12 Westchester.
Marzolla said they never intended to offend anyone.
“We represent people of all colors and faiths and we would never do anything to exclude anyone from any community,” she said.
Marzolla said she and other attorneys at the practice wondered why the decorations didn’t raise flags at the store where they were purchased.
“If you’re going to Bed Bath & Beyond, you don’t think they’re going to be selling offensive material,” she said.
The store issued an apology and said any offense was “unintentional” and that they “immediately removed” the pumpkins from its website and said they were never sold in stores, FOX News reported.
Wilbur Aldridge is the regional director of the Mid-Hudson/Westchester NAACP. He released the following statement to News 12 Westchester:
“By now I would believe everyone [knows] that anything in blackface is offensive… Equally as offensive is that a retail store would have such an item in [their] inventory for general purchase. This [too] shows an extreme lack of sensitivity.”
