Bed Bath & Beyond has reportedly stopped selling black jack-o’-lanterns after complaints the Halloween decorations resembled blackface.
The pumpkins, which were painted black and featured white eyes and mouths, first prompted complaints after they were displayed outside of the Feerick, Nugent, MacCartney Law Offices in Nyack, New York, according to News12.
The outlet reports that the law offices removed the display within 48 hours of receiving complaints from community members, who alleged that the decorations looked similar to blackface.
“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 firm, said. “We represent people of all colours and faiths, and we would never do anything to exclude anyone from any community.”
In response to the incident, Bed Bath & Beyond says it has pulled the items from its online store.
In a statement to USA Today, the home goods store said that while it was unintentional, it apologises for any offence caused by the jack-o’-lanterns and that it had “immediately removed the item from sale”.
The store also said that the pumpkins were only available online, and not in Bed Bath & Beyond stores.
According to Wilbur Aldridge, the director for the National Association for the Advancement of Coloured People (NAACP) in the Westchester, New York region, removing the pumpkins was the right decision - as they showed an “extreme lack of sensitivity”.
On social media, some people defended the decorations as “innocent”, while noting that the outrage over the jack-o’-lanterns was ironic considering politicians such as Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau are re-elected despite admitting to wearing blackface.
However, according to Aldridge: “It wasn’t about the pumpkin itself, but what was done to the pumpkin”.
“When you proceed to put the white eyes and the white mouth, now you have crossed the line because it then goes into having blackface,” he told News12.
Currently, there are still black pumpkins for sale on Bed Bath & Beyond’s website, however, they do not have faces painted on them.
The Independent has contacted Bed Bath & Beyond for comment.
