IHOP Customers Angered After 'Black People' Is Written On Receipt

A black couple has raised questions about a surprisingly racial descriptor printed on their receipt at a 24-hour IHOP in Austin. Rolman Sparkman and his girlfriend Arainia Brown picked up their order at 3 a.m., when they noted the words "Black Ppl" written on top of their receipt, and they became irate and confused as to why race was being used as an identifier.

What surprised them the most was that their server was also black.[slideshow:

"People being racist – and it's your own people being racist toward you for no reason," Sparkman told Fox News.

IHOP has released a statement condemning the writing on the receipt:

"This was a poor choice made by our franchisee's team member, and is not in keeping with policies and procedures," an IHOP representative said. "We recognize that it could be offensive and sincerely apologize. Everyone is welcome in our restaurants and our franchisee is using this as a teachable moment for the entire team so that it will not reoccur."

The server, Dwayne Williams, has since apologized on Facebook and said he never meant to offend anyone with the slipup.