Broward County removes Dancing Taco GIF posted for Hispanic Heritage Month after backlash

Kalia Richardson
·2 min read

Broward County on Wednesday removed a controversial dancing taco after receiving a barrage of backlash via social media for National Hispanic Heritage Month.

The one-second GIF, or short video, featured a smiling taco wielding multicolored maracas in each hand and a swirl of sour cream for hair. Within about five hours, the GIF was removed from both their Twitter and Facebook accounts.

Hallandale Beach City Commissioner Sabrina Javellana called the post “extremely embarrassing” on Twitter — whereas others called for “sensitivity training” and expressed disgust with the county’s GIF selection.

Broward County spokesperson Gregory Meyer said the post was never intended to be offensive or funny but in celebration of Hispanic Heritage month.

“While I’m not Hispanic, I still think it could be perceived as being offensive and so therefore, we removed it,” he said.

Meyer also noted that the employee is being counseled on sensitivity of all cultures.

“A dancing taco is not representative of the Hispanic community and should not have been associated with the annual celebration,” he said.

About a third of the Broward County population is Hispanic or Latino, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Broward County Mayor Steve Geller said the county government is supportive of the Hispanic community and recognizes the contributions they have made to the economy and culture.

“I apologize for the mistake, but it was merely a lack of judgment on the part of a young employee,” he said.

Along with the post, the caption read that Hispanic Heritage Month begins on Sept. 15 to celebrate the independence of Latin American countries that include Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua. Additionally, the post asked how people plan to celebrate the month.

Some Twitters users added that the post left Mexico out — the origin of the fried tortilla dish.

The post has since been taken down and replaced with a graphic displaying the name and time frame of the celebration.