While everyone is outraged about the discovery that Queen Bey has pores, another issue is growing around a piece of clothing she wore to the NBA All-Star Game.
Beyoncé rocked a Scooter LaForge hand painted trench coat. Scooter is known for his pieces that depict caricatures, however critics of this particular artwork observe that the big red lips, fangs, and bright eyes are evocative of the emblem for Coon Chicken Inn—based on the Sambo art of the first half of the 20th century.
The resemblance between the logo and the image on the coat is undeniable, and you have to wonder if Bey took notice.
So what’s the history behind the racist image on Bey’s coat.
The Coon Chicken Inn was a franchise of three restaurants created by Maxon Lester Graham and Adelaide Burt in 1925 with $50.00. The renowned emblem of the Coon Chicken Inn was a “Coon,” or a racist caricature of an African American male rooted in nineteenth-century minstrel shows and early-twentieth-century advertising. The “Coon” emblem for the eatery wore a porter’s outfit. The face was complete with a winking left eye and enlarged red lips that gaped constantly to reveal the words “Coon Chicken Inn” etched on rows of shining white teeth.
Every dish, cutlery piece, menu, matchbox (the image even appeared on the matchsticks!) and children’s fan made for the restaurant included the “Coon” emblem. The Coon Chicken Inn’s delivery car’s doors were plastered with the “Coon” emblem, and the restaurant’s entrance featured a 12-foot-high “Coon head” through which diners would enter the restaurant through a door in the head’s mouth and chin.
The Coon Chicken Inn served southern fried Coon Chicken sandwiches as well as specialties like the Baby Coon Chicken. Although African Americans were employed as waiters, waitresses, and chefs, they were not always invited to dine as customers. There was a dancing floor in the restaurant. The restaurant caught fire at 6 p.m. in early July 1927. The Coon Chicken Inn, however, reopened within days with the help of about 50 people.
Graham and Burt, the owners, planned to open facilities in Seattle and Portland with a cabaret and orchestra entertaining customers. Despite African American community objections, the Seattle branch stayed operating until late 1949.
Items from the Coon Chicken Inn restaurants are currently up for auction on the Black Memorabilia market.