The owners of a Colorado barbecue restaurant is being criticized for creating a "White Appreciation Day" promotion that will offer a 10 percent discount to white Americans only.

The owners of the Rubbin Buttz BBQ on Broad Street, Edgar Antillon and Miguel Jimenez, who are both Hispanic, say that the idea for a "White Appreciation Day" started off as a joke. However, they then decided to make the concept a reality and offer the discount to their white customers on June 11.

"On June 11th, what we plan on doing is 'White Appreciation Day.' And basically on that day, all white people would get 10 percent off," said Antillon, who also owns Country Cafe in Milliken, Colorado, according to NBC affiliate KUSA.

To advertise the discount, the owners decided to hang up a sign at the BBQ joint that reads "White Appreciation Day! June 11th. Because all Americans should be celebrated."

According to Antillon, white people deserve a day to be recognized and honored.

"We have a whole month for Black History Month. We have a whole month for Hispanic Heritage Month. So we figured the least we could do is offer one day to appreciate white Americans," he said.

However, critics say the discount is offensive.

"It's a perpetuation of racism," Weld County civil rights activist and community organizer Ricardo Romero said. "It's wrong. If you're going to give a discount, give it to the whole community," reports 9News.

Jennifer McPherson of the Colorado Department of Regulatory Agencies also pointed out that the discount could come with legal repercussions.

"If someone felt like they were being discriminated against, they could come to the civil rights division and file a complaint with our office, and we would investigate that," she said, reports NBC News.

However, Antillon argues that the discount is meant to promote unity, not to discrimination. He also added that he too has experienced racism as a first-generation American born to Mexican parents.

"We're all American. Plain and simple. Whether you come from a different country or you were born here, we're all American," he said.