Dare To Ask Talk And News About Our Differences - This topic has 25 replies, 26 voices, and was last updated 20 years, 7 months ago by
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It is stereotypical thinking to suggest that ‘all’ black people like fried chicken…just as it would be stereotypical to suggest that ‘all’ Italian people like pasta, or ‘all’ white people like turkey and dressing for Thanksgiving…all people of all colors have their own personal preferences in food…it has nothing to do with skin color. The restaurant could have celebrated Black History Month by offering ‘ everyone’ a 10% discount on their order. Or they could have put up a poster of famous Black leaders, inventors, poets, musicians…etc.
User Detail :
Name : Lily White, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Catholic, Age : 51, City : Kansas City, Ks., State : KS, Country : United States, Occupation : Bed&Breakfast owner, Education level : 2 Years of College, Social class : Middle class,I read the same editorial in the Portland Press Herald where Pitt’s column is syndicated. I generally enjoy his work but this week I think Leonard was reaching for something to write about. The issue here is selling food if you are a grocer and having your heritage recognized and validated if you are African American/Italian/Asian or Irish… Put them all together and lets face it, retailers look for reasons to get people into the store and buying their products. A local Chinese restaurant here in Portland links daily specials to current events. Great! Any excuse to save a buck is fine with me. If they want to put fried chicken on sale for African American Heritage month and potatoes and beer on sale for St. Patricks day, just let me know when the sales going on and I’m a buyer! I’m Irish too so potatoes and beer don’t offend me. I think by and large we have become way too sensitive about this stuff and the PC police really don’t have a lot to say. I do want to thank Leonard for introducing me to this forum however. Other than that, this particular column of LP’s was a waste…
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Name : Murph20211, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Agnostic, Age : 27, City : portland, State : ME, Country : United States, Occupation : student, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class,I too read the column and was taken back by the thought that Black people are offended by the sale of chicken to celebrate ‘Black History Month’. First, more Fried Chicken is consumed by white persons than Black. Second, Y is it that we do not have a History Month for other groups such as Mexicans, Polocks, Jews, etc.????? I agree with the person who pointed out that the Politically Correct routine is driving a wedge between different groups. It is not bringing us closer.
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Name : Jack R., Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Agnostic, Age : 62, City : Silsbee, State : TX, Country : United States, Occupation : retired, Education level : 2 Years of College, Social class : Middle class,It’s not about chicken being ‘soul food’ or ethnic food. If they had placed some sort of African cuisine food on sale that might have been a different story. but, as leonard Pitts pointed out, fried chicken has long been a kind of food used to DERIDE black people. That is why it is offensive. This comes from the slave days when cheap food was used to feed black slaves – chicken wings, watermelon, etc. It is not like pasta for the Italians or paella for the Spaniards. Whether or not black people or anyone likes fried chicken is not the issue.
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Name : Mark Ginzo, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Age : 36, City : Miami, State : FL, Country : United States, Occupation : finance, Education level : Technical School, Social class : Middle class,Steve, I think part of the problem is some black folks associate certain foods with things that happened in their distant past, such as cannibalism. Maybe fried chicken,{especially dark meat} reminded them of cannibalism!DC.
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Name : Dan-Cubrich, City : Omaha, State : NE, Country : United States,More people found this issue more humorous than offensive, I think. But in my opinion it’s humorous for the same reason it’s potentially offensive; it plays on stereotypes. One of the stereotypes of black people in this country is that we all eat fried chicken and water melon. It’s not one of the ugliest stereotypes, but it’s certaintly a gross generalization, one that lends itself to the image of the buffoonish black caraciture that has been with us since slavery. Sure, there is the stereotype of Italians eating pasta and pizza, but the history of Italians in this country is not the same as that of black Americans. They haven’t–for the most part–been the butt of many racial jokes, so the stereotype of Italians and pasta isn’t associated with much harm. But the same can’t be said for black people. It’s not PC to be aware of this if you know the history between whites and blacks in this country.
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Name : TR24198, Gender : F, Race : Black/African American, Age : 24, City : Newark, State : NJ, Country : United States, Education level : Over 4 Years of College,I’ve heard derogatory remarks about blacks eating fried chicken and watermellon since I was a kid (not by my parents thankfully). Its just another way whites put blacks on a lower level. I would be very offended if I were black. Blacks didn’t invent watermelon or fried chicken by the way.
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Name : Jon27111, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Catholic, Age : 32, City : Wichita, State : KS, Country : United States, Occupation : medical resident, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class,I am black and I do love fried chicken, but I would get offended if someone made a generalization saying that ALL African Americans eat fried chicken. A lot of ethnicities like fried chicken, but why are we stereotyped as being the only ones who eat it?
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Name : DH31835, City : Grand Rapids, State : MI, Country : United States,Personally, I think sometimes people can be a bit over sensitive. Sometimes, some foods just get associated with people. I’m Scottish and Scottish people tend to be associated with haggis. Wow, big deal. Italians get associated with pasta, so what. Black people get associated with fried chicken, who cares. To be honest I didn’t know this until I read a book written by a black man about a fried chicken restaurent. It’s not we’re saying only black people like it, or only Italian people eat pasta. I like chinese food too, and japanese food, and Mexican food, and even English food!
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Name : indigo21227, Gender : F, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Agnostic, Age : 17, City : aberdeen, State : NA, Country : United Kingdom,Well, all I can tell you is that fried chicken isn’t that much a part of our culture as people think. Its really just a food. Maybe it has something to do with our culture that I don’t know about, but from my understanding, its not that big of a deal. Not big enough to use as a part of black history month clebration. My point is, the whole fried chicken and watermelon thing was based off of a negative steroe type. That could be why people got offended.
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Name : Erin, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : Black/African American, Religion : Baptist, Age : 20, City : Fort Lauderdale, State : FL, Country : United States, Occupation : Student, Social class : Middle class,I don’t see anything wrong with that. Stores advertise Bar-B-Q on July 4, and blacks and whites together love that. This is a capitalistic society, businesses make money promoting goods that are identified with most holidays/special events, and Black History Month should be no different. Would blacks want business to ignore their preferences and heritage?
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Name : JB31123, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Lutheran, Age : 53, City : Birmingham, State : AL, Country : United States, Education level : 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class,
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