The massively popular Chick-fil-A chain of restaurants stumbled around in their attempt to find an apology this past weekend after the franchise was accused of making a racist comment in a tweet that was a response to a customer on social media. Because hey, everything is racist these days, right? It wouldn’t be 2022 if someone said something and then wasn’t accused of racism.
One user on Twitter last Friday tweeted at the company, “grilled spicy deluxe but still noooo spicy nuggets…………@ChickfilA…..”
Chick-fil-A responded by writing, “Your community will be the first to know if spicy items are added to the permanent menu, Don!”
Your community will be the first to know if spicy items are added to the permanent menu, Don!
— Chick-fil-A, Inc. (@ChickfilA) September 9, 2022
Now, personally, since I’m not a race-baiter, this seems like a pretty normal exchange. Seems clear that by “your community,” the restaurant chain literally meant the place where the customer lives or where an established restaurant is located. But, when you live in a society that is perpetually offended and always looking for some way to accuse someone of racism, even something that clearly can be twisted up and used against you.
Here are more details via TheBlaze:
This seemingly innocuous exchange led to a deluge of comments on Chick-fil-A’s response, which thousands of people suggested was offensive based on the words “your community.” Many people observed that the original poster, “Don,” appears to be black and asked if Chick-fil-A was targeting the black community.
“wdym by your community???” one person wrote to Chick-fil-A in a reply that was liked more than 21,000 times.
wdym by your community??? pic.twitter.com/0hFx5U376A
— jaxmostwanted (@jaxmostwanted) September 10, 2022
From there, hundreds of users posted jokes and memes poking fun at Chick-fil-A’s tweet. But some people took it seriously and seemed offended.
“Chic…this aint a good look. What you meant by that specifically?” one person asked.
Chic…this aint a good look. What you meant by that specifically?
— Trey (@_SoyKalimbaa) September 10, 2022
explain yourself – QUICKLY. 🤨 pic.twitter.com/AaFeMqfuEn
— Tenille. (@tenilleclarke1) September 10, 2022
“8 hours later and this racist tweet is still up. Damn I am in shock , actually no I am not it’s @ChickfilA, I shouldn’t expect anything less,” another user wrote in a post.
Maybe it was left up because it’s not a racist comment. I mean, seems pretty obvious what was meant by the tweet. Only an idiot would make this about the color of the man’s skin.
8 hours later and this racist tweet is still up. Damn I am in shock , actually no I am not it’s @ChickfilA , I shouldn’t expect anything less.
— Jerome (@myjerome76) September 10, 2022
The official Chick-fil-A account went on to indicate that the company’s very own social media team employs the use of the phrase “your community” frequently in a number of response comments from a wide variety of customers.
“Hi there! We know our customers love the heat, so we’re testing spicy items in different markets. We’ll be sure to let your community know if spicy items are added into our permanent menu!” Chick-fil-A stated in response to at least four different customers just on Friday.
In a statement that was released to NBC News, Chick-fil-A confirmed that the word “community” is frequently used in social media communications referring to where established restaurants exist. The company then replied with an apology for its “poor choice of words.”
“The response was a poor choice of words but was not intended in any way to be insensitive or disrespectful,” a Chick-fil-A spokesperson went on to say. “We often use the term ‘community’ in a broader sense to talk about places where we operate restaurants and serve the surrounding community.”