An Open Letter To John Schnatter Who Simply Cannot Make A Pizza Without Saying The N-Word

Dear John Schnatter (aka Papa John),

It breaks my heart to say this, but this is the last straw. I’ve given you multiple chances to redeem yourself, but you just keep dropping the ball. Or should I say the N-word? Does it really take 20 months to get the word out of your vocabulary? That’s longer than it takes to make and deliver one pizza!

I know it’s a very addictive word, but to make it seem like you went to rehab for is excessive. I would love to see your pizza diary during those 20 long, dark months just to see how it was affecting you and observe the progress you made along the way.

Maybe that’s the secret ingredient? Do you sprinkle in a few slurs to give the sauce that sweet, distinctive Papa John's taste? Maybe you just like listening to hip-hop while you invent and innovate and think it's was a good way to bond with your co-workers? While I’m not surprised that a 60-year-old Caucasian man from Indiana has this word in his vocabulary, I’m surprised that a person can’t see how his choices affect his customers. You know you messed up if having Shaq as a spokesperson can’t even save you.

But this isn’t the first time you disappointed me. From criticizing Obama’s Affordable Care Act to disapproving of NFL protests, your pizza has become progressively worse. I can taste the racism in the pizza and I cannot dilute it with garlic sauce or that loose pepper you throw in the box.

As a Black man who grew up eating your pizza, when I heard the news of you saying the word during a conference call, my heart shattered. I have consumed your pizza for years, whether it was for pizza parties at school, a kind gesture from previous managers before they fired me, or when my mother came home after a long day at work and had no energy to cook. No longer can I look at your website to even order a pizza. Everything just looks racist. I can’t even look at the Double Chocolate Chip Brownie on your dessert menu without wondering what names did you pitch before you landed on that one. One time, I put the N-word in as a promo code, just to see if I would get any exclusive deals or discounts. I got 10% off and a free 3-liter of Pepsi!

I would love to just eat a medium pepperoni pizza with light sauce without having a guilty conscience, but I’m afraid that's an impossibility. I have to take my business elsewhere, John. Did you know Little Caesars’ founder Mike Ilitch secretly paid for Rosa Park’s rent? Pay my rent, John! Pass out free pizza during a protest! Cater a local NAACP meeting! Do anything to show you actually care about Black people!

Your motto is “Better Ingredients. Better Pizza”. I have a new motto for you “Better Choices. Better Person. Papa Johns”