Arkansas Restaurant Sign Claims Obamacare Is 'America's Punishment For Slavery Years'

A sign outside of Smokin' Joe's Ribhouse in Rogers, Arkansas claimed Obamacare is "America's punishment for slavery years."

Johnny Howard, who owns the restaurant, told 4029TV the sign was up for just under an hour before it was removed because of "several complaints from the public."

A photo of the sign was posted to Reddit by user asanch21:

Howard apologized for the sign and said he did not intend for it to offend people.

"I didn't intend for it to be racist-oriented at all," Howard said, 4029TV reports.

Howard isn't the first Obamacare opponent to invoke slavery while criticizing the health care law. Neurosurgeon Ben Carson said Obamacare is the worst thing to happen to America "since slavery" while speaking at the 2013 Values Voter Summit in Washington, D.C. on Friday.

"You know Obamacare is really I think the worst thing that has happened in this nation since slavery," Carson said. "And it is in a way, it is slavery in a way, because it is making all of us subservient to the government, and it was never about health care. It was about control."