Fred's Breakfast Apologizes For Controversial Sign

NEW HOPE, PA — A New Hope restaurant is apologizing after the local NAACP branch shared an image of a sign on the wall there telling a joke that used racist tropes and compared people on welfare to dogs.

The sign, photographed by a customer, has since been removed, said the owners of Fred's Breakfast Club, at 13 E. Randolph St. in New Hope.

It told a joke about someone trying to sign their dogs up for welfare. After being denied, the joke-teller replies that the dogs are "mixed in color, unemployed, can't speak English and have no idea who their Daddies are."

"They expect me to feed them, provide them with housing, medical care, and feel guilty because they are dogs," the sign reads.

In a social media post, the ownership of Fred's — a "breakfast club" at which customers pay a fee for a key that lets them into the restaurant during business hours — said the sign was an application submitted by a member that kept with the restaurant's "dog themed and light hearted atmosphere."

"That is the sole lens through which we viewed the content of the application, which has been removed from our wall," the post said. "Our restaurant succeeds solely on the basis of valuable contributions from a diverse team, and all of us work hard shoulder to shoulder. We unequivocally reject racism.

"To every person of any color, gender, orientation, and those affected by hate who feel demeaned or unwelcome by the content of the application, we are deeply sorry. It was never our intention. Please accept our sincerest apology."

Wednesday night, the Bucks County branch of the NAACP shared a Facebook post with a photo of the sign, with a note saying merely "Just going to leave this here."

Neither the Bucks NAACP nor Fred's Breakfast Club responded immediately to messages from Patch seeking additional comment Thursday morning.

Followers reacted angrily to the NAACP post.

"Wow... I’ve been staring at my phone trying to figure out what I was seeing ... ," one follower wrote. "I don’t go out for breakfast, but if I ever do I know one place I will not be going. Sickening ... ."

The post by Fred's Breakfast Club, meanwhile, had more than 400 comments on Thursday, some supporting the restaurant and others expressing anger.