ST. AUGUSTINE, FL (WAWS/WFOX/WJAX/CNN) – Protesters gathered outside a Florida restaurant after a worker painted her face black as part of an Aunt Jemima Halloween costume.
Dozens of students at Flagler College showed up outside The Bunnery Bakery and Cafe Tuesday to express how upset they were with the worker’s Halloween costume.
"I saw the baker with blackface. I asked her what her costume was. She said she was portraying Aunt Jemima,” one protester said.
The woman says she and her friend confronted the Bunnery employee. The students say they were offended and wanted to bring awareness to the issue.
"Aunt Jemima is a stereotypical caricature of black women, and I am a black woman. And if I see that and it offends me, then you should be OK with wiping the paint off your face,” said the woman’s friend and fellow protester. "Black people and any other race is not a costume for you to wear. We’re not a joke, and you can’t do that.”
The owner of the Bunnery says the employee washed off her face after the confrontation, and she took off the costume. She says the employee did not mean to offend anyone.
"She works at the Bunnery. It was something to throw together real quick. I mean, pancakes, Bunnery, that sounds pretty normal to me,” said the employee’s daughter over Facetime.
The employee said in an email she thought the costume was a brilliant idea.
"Color is not something that exists in my life. I come from a very colorful family and I love all the same. I will not apologize for my costume, there was nothing wrong with my actions in the choice of my costume,” she wrote.
The Bunnery apologized for the costume on its Facebook page.
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