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Calif. school apologizes for black history lunch menu[W:250]

Re: Calif. school apologizes for black history lunch menu

Catfish, collard greens and grits. Don't forget the sweet potatoe pie and Koolade. ;)

Only red kool-aid though.
 
In the Lifetime movie "Road to Christmas", photographer Claire (Jennifer Grey) is talking with her beautiful black model friend N'naa (Ingrid Hart). The gist of the conversation is that N'naa comments on Claire's Italian fiancé. Claire's comment was something to the effect of "Saying that Italian men are womanizers is like me saying that because you are black you must like watermelon." N'naa's response was: "I DO like watermelon. It's one of the few things I can eat."

That, in my opinion, is the importance that should be put on this whole ridiculous political correctness nonsense. By looking for racist connotations in everything or demanding that they have to exist in something as innocuous (and good) as fried chicken and watermelon is straining at gnats to keep racism alive and well and at the forefront of everything.

I think the problem is not so much that the food itself is racist, but that it was picked as part of a celebration of "black history" when it's more of a cultural thing. I have no doubt that the people who were in charge of the event thought "Well, it would be a good idea because everyone likes these things." However, historically it has been used to attack black culture. To suggest that's in the long distant past and irrelevant today is nonsense. Obama regularly got portrayed a chicken eating, watermelon munching nigger. It was a statement on black culture and not black history.

Sure, with our 21st century mentality we can easily state that this keeps "racism alive" but we already know it's not a thing that is meant to die. It's not a political ideology. It's not a religious stance. It's an idea meant to distrust and attack people of other skin colors/ethnicities. Dismissing it simply because you think it perpetuates it won't stop it from existing. What can be done is have a little bit of sensitivity around certain issues. Yes, everyone likes chicken and watermelon. However, not everyone gets attacked for that.

It's kind of the same beef the Irish have with alcohol. Everyone likes alcohol. However, not everyone has been attacked for liking it. Try calling all the Irish drunks and see whether or not you get a response. I bet you will even if everyone likes alcohol.
 
I think the problem is not so much that the food itself is racist, but that it was picked as part of a celebration of "black history" when it's more of a cultural thing. I have no doubt that the people who were in charge of the event thought "Well, it would be a good idea because everyone likes these things." However, historically it has been used to attack black culture. To suggest that's in the long distant past and irrelevant today is nonsense. Obama regularly got portrayed a chicken eating, watermelon munching nigger. It was a statement on black culture and not black history.

Sure, with our 21st century mentality we can easily state that this keeps "racism alive" but we already know it's not a thing that is meant to die. It's not a political ideology. It's not a religious stance. It's an idea meant to distrust and attack people of other skin colors/ethnicities. Dismissing it simply because you think it perpetuates it won't stop it from existing. What can be done is have a little bit of sensitivity around certain issues. Yes, everyone likes chicken and watermelon. However, not everyone gets attacked for that.

Sorry. I appreciate your thoughtful take on this, but I cannot agree. People who refuse to attach political correctness concepts to fried chicken and watermelon (etc.) are NOT the ones who distrust and attack people of other skin colors. The fact that a few racists still exist who do that--and many of those are leftists who create those caricatures to accuse the right--is not an indictment of the entire American culture. And I for one think we need to stop letting those few racists control the agenda. Political correctness, for the most part, IS a political ideology and is intended to keep people divided into groups for the benefit of those who profit from that; and it also is a means of controlling the population and herding it in a particular direction.

Any way you look at it, to be offended by fried chicken and watermelon is a form of racism. The non racists of the world would have served that fried chicken and watermelon and praised it as an ethnic delicacy for which we can thank the traditions of the black folks in the south who invented it and we are serving it in recognition of one of the contributions of black Americans. And otherwise it doesn't mean a thing.
 
In the Lifetime movie "Road to Christmas", photographer Claire (Jennifer Grey) is talking with her beautiful black model friend N'naa (Ingrid Hart). The gist of the conversation is that N'naa comments on Claire's Italian fiancé. Claire's comment was something to the effect of "Saying that Italian men are womanizers is like me saying that because you are black you must like watermelon." N'naa's response was: "I DO like watermelon. It's one of the few things I can eat."

That, in my opinion, is the importance that should be put on this whole ridiculous political correctness nonsense. By looking for racist connotations in everything or demanding that they have to exist in something as innocuous (and good) as fried chicken and watermelon is straining at gnats to keep racism alive and well and at the forefront of everything.

Liberals/progressives would have to much free time on their hands if there wasn't political correctness to force upon society.

Did you know that German immigrants introduced pancakes to America and Aunt Jemima wasn't a German.
 
Sorry. I appreciate your thoughtful take on this, but I cannot agree. People who refuse to attach political correctness concepts to fried chicken and watermelon (etc.) are NOT the ones who distrust and attack people of other skin colors. The fact that a few racists still exist who do that--and many of those are leftists who create those caricatures to accuse the right--is not an indictment of the entire American culture. And I for one think we need to stop letting those few racists control the agenda. Political correctness, for the most part, IS a political ideology and is intended to keep people divided into groups for the benefit of those who profit from that; and it also is a means of controlling the population and herding it in a particular direction.

Any way you look at it, to be offended by fried chicken and watermelon is a form of racism. The non racists of the world would have served that fried chicken and watermelon and praised it as an ethnic delicacy for which we can thank the traditions of the black folks in the south who invented it and we are serving it in recognition of one of the contributions of black Americans. And otherwise it doesn't mean a thing.

We can't actually have a discussion on "racism" and "political correctness" until you stop being politically correct. Your post embodies what political correctness actually stands for which is the dismissal of discussion and criticism in favor of a standard political opinion about the nonexistence of X-topic. Remember, political correctness as a term was meant to be a criticism of Communist tendencies to outright refuse changing stances on a topic that would be in conflict with their party politics. In short, you're basically saying that the people who want to discuss the documented and relevant links between food and race are the bad guys in the story. The people who want to act as if it's not relevant and shouldn't be discussed? They are the good guys. Your post is the only politically correct thing here.

In short, your naive views on racism as it currently exists and dismissal of its relevance is politically correct. Your complete refusal to debate it because it goes contrary to the image you're trying to craft of American society is politically correct. Racism in America, current and past has been thrown in the back of the bus in order to make room for politically correct ideas of racial integration. Past insults and current grievances have been dismissed in favor of a progressive belief that it no longer exists and it's irrelevant today. Nonsense, it existed in the past, exists in the present and will in the future and until an actual discussion is held on the matter it will continue to be a sore issue for many people of many colors and ancestries.

To go back to the topic: What is being discussed is not that the food itself was racist - but that it was being tied to a people's history. Which then raises a few questions what kind of role did chicken and watermelon play in black history? Was it regularly used to smuggle slaves out of the South? Did it play any important role in the history of blacks? It didn't. It's a cultural food that everyone seems to like. However, as stated earlier, not everyone would be attacked for liking it. Whites don't get attacked for eating watermelon. Asians don't either. They get attacked for other issues which are respectively sensitive to their groups.

It's not for nothing that the Irish get a little annoyed when others try and celebrate Irish history with alcohol. It's not that the celebration itself is racist. It's not mentioning that they like it that is racist. It's the natural sensitivity that comes from the way the food has been used by others when referring to the group.

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We can't actually have a discussion on "racism" and "political correctness" until you stop being politically correct. Your post embodies what political correctness actually stands for which is the dismissal of discussion and criticism in favor of a standard political opinion about the nonexistence of X-topic. Remember, political correctness as a term was meant to be a criticism of Communist tendencies to outright refuse changing stances on a topic that would be in conflict with their party politics. In short, you're basically saying that the people who want to discuss the documented and relevant links between food and race are the bad guys in the story. The people who want to act as if it's not relevant and shouldn't be discussed? They are the good guys. Your post is the only politically correct thing here.

In short, your naive views on racism as it currently exists and dismissal of its relevance is politically correct. Your complete refusal to debate it because it goes contrary to the image you're trying to craft of American society is politically correct. Racism in America, current and past has been thrown in the back of the bus in order to make room for politically correct ideas of racial integration. Past insults and current grievances have been dismissed in favor of a progressive belief that it no longer exists and it's irrelevant today. Nonsense, it existed in the past, exists in the present and will in the future and until an actual discussion is held on the matter it will continue to be a sore issue for many people of many colors and ancestries.

To go back to the topic: What is being discussed is not that the food itself was racist - but that it was being tied to a people's history. Which then raises a few questions what kind of role did chicken and watermelon play in black history? Was it regularly used to smuggle slaves out of the South? Did it play any important role in the history of blacks? It didn't. It's a cultural food that everyone seems to like. However, as stated earlier, not everyone would be attacked for liking it. Whites don't get attacked for eating watermelon. Asians don't either. They get attacked for other issues which are respectively sensitive to their groups.

It's not for nothing that the Irish get a little annoyed when others try and celebrate Irish history with alcohol. It's not that the celebration itself is racist. It's not mentioning that they like it that is racist. It's the natural sensitivity that comes from the way the food has been used by others when referring to the group.

I%27se_so_happy_-_postcard.jpg


rice_krinkles.jpg%3Fw%3D610


nast%2B9.jpg

Okay now you stopped being thoughtful and started being insulting. First, political correctness can no longer be intellectually honestly tied only to communist era history any more than fried chicken and watermelon can be intellectually honestly tied only to slavery and racism. Must we associate George Washington Carver's accomplishments to discrimination and segregation? Or are those accomplishments what a brilliant scientist managed to do in spite of extreme discrimination and segregation? Is fried chicken, cornbread, and watermelon to be forever symbols of slavery? Or are they foods developed in a culture that knew how to cook them and enjoy them?

Which attitude is the most beneficial of all to express now, today, in this time?

At the expense of an overwhelming amount of American blood and treasure, grief, and strife, slavery was ended in this country, then segregation, then organizational discrimination. We won that war. Now for the benefit of all, most especially black citizens, let's stop fighting it and stop using political correctness to keep it going.
 
We can't actually have a discussion on "racism" and "political correctness" until you stop being politically correct.

It's not politically correct on the right to acknowledge it. Unless it can be used as a cudgel to browbeat liberals.

Now when I look at the situation described in the OP, I don't see blatant racism. What I see is blatant stupidity on the part of the people who came up with it and on the part of the people who approved the menu. Nobody looked at that and said "You know....ummm...." And it's not about being politically correct, it's about being receptive to other people's sensibilities and taking them into consideration. It's basically the DBAJ rule in real life.
 
At the expense of an overwhelming amount of American blood and treasure, grief, and strife, slavery was ended in this country, then segregation, then organizational discrimination. We won that war. Now for the benefit of all, most especially black citizens, let's stop fighting it and stop using political correctness to keep it going.


We also won WWII, but I'd still be worried about somebody coming along with a "final solution" for Judaism. Maybe for the benefit of all, we shouldn't worry about whether Israel can exist or not. Instead of treating the Jews as special.
 
We also won WWII, but I'd still be worried about somebody coming along with a "final solution" for Judaism. Maybe for the benefit of all, we shouldn't worry about whether Israel can exist or not. Instead of treating the Jews as special.

By all means keep right on bombing Germany, and also Japan, if that makes you feel better. Keeping animosities with Germany and Japan alive and well after peace has been achieved is comparable to keep fighting the war to end slavery, segregation, and discrimination after that has been accomplished.

And while you're at it, turn your back on all our allies who are under specific and direct threat as if that has any relationship to the thread topic in anyway.

(Using the rhetorical 'you' here. Not aimed specifically at you rocket88.)
 
Re: Calif. school apologizes for black history lunch menu

It's okay to joke about Germans and sauerkraut, but if we mention black cultural foods which happens to be true.....bad stuff. Are we going to argue that this isn't part of black culture in the US? What's wrong with those foods anyway? I grew up in Virginia, and like them all. I have a deep German heritage, and I like sauerkraut. People go to Busch Gardens in Williamsburg and get sauerkraut on the German part of the park................have we seen Germans riot over it? No, not since the park opened.

The offended people need STFU!
My family is mixed throughout the years, my paternal side is a complete Euro mix and that menu has food found in just about any southerner's diet. I get that the stereotypes include those foods but never understood the stereotype, all that stuff is delicious! And BTW my grandmother used to make the best fried chicken around. That said, I remember another one of these happening not too long ago, the female chef that set that menu was black and didn't understand the hubbub.
 
Re: Calif. school apologizes for black history lunch menu

Where I live blacks and whites eat near about the same food. Maybe just a little different. But all "heart healthy" friend foods and such lol.
That's the thing, it's food. Cuisine and techniques are based upon the availability of ingredients, "Cajun" food is based upon the tradition of French cooking because many of the royal chefs were exiled after the King was dethroned, they ended up in Louisiana and shared their knowledge with the fellow colonists so most Cajun people can cook a fine delicacy with anything the region provides(we're lucky, good soil, plenty of seafood, knowledge of spices and advanced techniques). Creole food shares many recipes but is based more on Carribean techniques and especially Haiti, so the flavor profile will be different as well as the techniques, but it's not odd to see Cajun and Creole cooks who can do dishes in either style.

All diets are based on what is there and who can cook it. It shouldn't be a political thing.
 
Re: Calif. school apologizes for black history lunch menu

Black people (including myself) want non-blacks to join in the celebrating of MLK Day and BHM and when they do they get labeled racially insensitive. That's just wrong. I'll tell you what it is. Black people are often ashamed of our culture. I can understand being humiliated by be associated with gangster rap, bad grammar so-called Ebonics and dressing like a thug. We should be honored by non-blacks wanting to enjoy black cultural cuisine, Jazz, Gospel music, etc. in celebration of BHM.
Or Motown and Philly soul, when I was younger I was more of a "rock only" guy but as I branch out I find myself going further back in time and enjoying the classics, everything from classical music, to rock, soul, and country but the Motown/Philly/Chitown soul is something unique and powerful, I dare people not to smile when listening.
 
Re: Calif. school apologizes for black history lunch menu

Yes, but if you MUST have a meal themed around black history (which, again, WTF?), those guys had a much smaller impact on food.

You're wrong. Black folk--those guys?--contributed as much to Cajun cuisine as the Cajuns did. As I mentioned earlier, gumbo is African in origin. Red jambalaya originated in the slave communities of South Louisiana. Jambalaya came from the Carribean Islands.

A Black History themed meal wasn't a bad idea. Fried chicken and watermelon are just piss poor examples.
 
Re: Calif. school apologizes for black history lunch menu

So what could the cafeteria serve that wouldn't offend anyone, yet recognize the spirit of the "event"?

Red beans and rice with a big ass corn pone.
 
Re: Calif. school apologizes for black history lunch menu

I don't much care for watermelon, but the rest sounded pretty damn good. In fact, probably better than the normal bland crap served at these types of things.
 
Re: Calif. school apologizes for black history lunch menu

They could've hired Paula Dean to cook it and dressed the workers in period plantation wear.
 
Re: Calif. school apologizes for black history lunch menu

You're wrong. Black folk--those guys?--contributed as much to Cajun cuisine as the Cajuns did. As I mentioned earlier, gumbo is African in origin. Red jambalaya originated in the slave communities of South Louisiana. Jambalaya came from the Carribean Islands.

A Black History themed meal wasn't a bad idea. Fried chicken and watermelon are just piss poor examples.

I actually meant the people mentioned in the post I replied too. All great people, but none of those individuals (those guys) had as much impact on food as George Washington Carver. That's what I was saying.

Black people as a whole have had a lot of impact on good food.
 
By all means keep right on bombing Germany, and also Japan, if that makes you feel better. Keeping animosities with Germany and Japan alive and well after peace has been achieved is comparable to keep fighting the war to end slavery, segregation, and discrimination after that has been accomplished.

And while you're at it, turn your back on all our allies who are under specific and direct threat as if that has any relationship to the thread topic in anyway.

(Using the rhetorical 'you' here. Not aimed specifically at you rocket88.)

The point, which you seem to have missed, is that just because "we won that war" doesn't mean we just ignore all the issues that led to it as if they were ancient history.
 
Re: Calif. school apologizes for black history lunch menu

one response to that Hefferveisen.

I went to Octoberfest in Germany once, and it was comprised of numerous giant tents, each tent with their own beer brand. And in each tent they had bathroom trawls over fifty feet long. When I drank the beer and went to the urinal/trawl, my thought was that never did the kidneys have to do so little to turn the beer from its original state to its end product.
 
Re: Calif. school apologizes for black history lunch menu

I went to Octoberfest in Germany once, and it was comprised of numerous giant tents, each tent with their own beer brand. And in each tent they had bathroom trawls over fifty feet long. When I drank the beer and went to the urinal/trawl, my thought was that never did the kidneys have to do so little to turn the beer from its original state to its end product.
German lagers are a bit lighter for sure, but Hefferveisen is a pure wheat beer, it's pretty dang hearty if I do say so myself.
 
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