DENVER, Jan. 13 (UPI) -- Denver school officials have issued a public apology for the lunch of greens and fried chicken dished up for students in honor of Martin Luther King.

The offerings, meant to be a "Southern Style" menu reflecting the assassinated civil rights leader's Dixie origins, offended some parents who considered it an offense stereotype of African-Americans.


A statement posted on the Denver Public Schools Web site Tuesday night apologized for what turned out to be a "highly insensitive" move.

School Board President Nate Easley, who is African-American, told The Denver Post he suspected King himself would be more concerned with how minority kids were doing in school than what was being served in the cafeteria.

Lecia Brooks, interim director of the Civil Rights Memorial Center in Alabama, told the newspaper she was sorry to see the tribute paid King by the Denver schools amount to nothing more than a "chicken lunch."