Dare To Ask Talk And News About Our Differences - This topic has 13 replies, 14 voices, and was last updated 21 years, 1 month ago by
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On Martin Luther King Jr. day, my place of employment served pork ribs, greens, cornbread and fried okra. I was surprised at this, thinking this was stereotyping African-American food. What is the difference between serving this fare and serving watermelon? Is it the negative connotation associated with watermelon and the ‘Jim Crow’ days? I would like to get African Americans’ take on this. Do you feel it is an honor, or is it demeaning for this country food to be served on MLK Day?
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Name : Martha, Gender : F, Race : White/Caucasian, Age : 40, City : Davison, State : MI, Country : United States, Occupation : health care, Education level : 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class,I don’t feel it is demeaning to serve country food on MLK Day, but I do think it is a silly, somewhat simpleminded idea. My first reaction would probably be to laugh and roll my eyes at the idea. It is stereotypical, and honoring a civil rights leader by serving soul food doesn’t really touch on why the holiday is important. I also think that MLK Day is a holiday for all Americans, and not a cultural holiday for Black Americans. On the other hand, if it was your Black co-workers’ idea to serve the food, perhaps they saw that particular holiday as an appropriate time to do something cultural. Still, I think it’s silly.
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Name : Johnna, Gender : F, Race : Black/African American, Age : 26, City : Atlanta, State : GA, Country : United States, Occupation : Librarian, Education level : Over 4 Years of College,Fortune cookies and egg rolls aren’t real Chinese food, but yet, they serve fried rice, egg rolls and a fortune cookie on the first day of Chinese New Year at my high school. Do the Chinese kids find that offensive? No.
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Name : Cynthia31738, Gender : F, Race : Asian, Age : 22, City : Somewhere, State : NA, Country : Canada, Occupation : Student, Education level : 4 Years of College, Social class : Upper middle class,Well, it depends. Is your place of employment managed by whites? If the answer is yes (and they don’t usually serve this kind of food), I might be suspicious. I wouldn’t be ready to call anyone racist, but I would wonder why they would associate MLK Jr. Day with those foods. It’s not like the holiday is a ‘black people’s day’. But on the other hand, I don’t know if I’d be offended. I like collard greens and corn bread. So I don’t know.
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Name : TR24196, Gender : F, Age : 24, City : Newark, State : NJ, Country : United States, Education level : Over 4 Years of College,Do to our past I believe we tend to be over sensitive. I’m sure that if they had served pizza that day many Blacks would have had something negative to say about that. 🙂
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Name : Leon-White22863, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : Black/African American, Religion : African Methodist Episcopalian, Age : 50, City : Brooklyn, State : NY, Country : United States, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Lower class,Ms Davison, I feel that Black people are so confussed that we suspect just about everything to be raceist or demeaning. If at your work place they served pizza that day I’m sure we would have said something to that. 🙂
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Name : Leon-White22862, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : Black/African American, Religion : African Methodist Episcopalian, Age : 50, City : Brooklyn, State : NY, Country : United States, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Lower class,I don’t know what ‘ethnic’ food has to do with a holiday celebrating the life of a civil rights leader. Martin Luther King Jr. stood up for rights and the dream of people to be treated fairly in a society that we all share. I probably would have been offended if I worked there. Martin Luther King Day is for all people who believe in civil rights and diversity. It’s not a ‘black thing.’
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Name : Samm29441, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : Black/African American, Religion : New Age/Metaphysical, Age : 37, City : Boston, State : MA, Country : United States, Occupation : Artist, Education level : 2 Years of College, Social class : Middle class,Isn’t drinking and wearing green on St. Patrick’s Day just as prejudiced?
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Name : CC19335, Gender : F, Race : Asian, Age : 22, City : Somewhere in Canada, State : NA, Country : Canada, Education level : 4 Years of College, Social class : Upper middle class,I have to agree with my Canuck sister there. Some people (especially Americans) are just too quick to take offense where none was intended. I happen to like cornbread.
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Name : Allan, Gender : M, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Catholic, Age : 22, City : Halifax, Nova Scotia, State : NA, Country : Canada, Occupation : Student, Education level : 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class,This sounds a lot like something I read in the paper today in regards to a major food chain in PA running a sale on chicken in honor of Black History Month – they were forced to issue an apology… Personally, I think that any type of steriotypical behavior linked to a particular group of people based on appearance, religion, etc…is unfair when it becomes acceptable to society as being true to fact. All blonds are not dumb. All blacks do not like chicken. All Kentuckians are not barefoot, pregnant, and married by the time they are 13.
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Name : AMC, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Age : 25, City : Richmon, State : KY, Country : United States, Occupation : Office Manager, Education level : 2 Years of College, Social class : Middle class,As a white southerner, I’ve always associated these foods with being Southern cooking, not really an ethnic dish. Greens, sweet potatoes, fried chicken, okra, chitlins, pecan pie and watermelon… all I can say is… YUM!
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Name : Robert29741, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Age : 24, City : Atlanta, State : GA, Country : United States, Occupation : student, Education level : 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class,Appropos question by Steve G. and Martha, and related replies, I have long wondered what real purpose is served by celebrating [and overdoing]pretensions to accepting stuff clumped under ‘Diversity.’ The rush to create black history and literature courses may furnish comfort food to a few, but I’m not sure. There still seems to be much segregation on campuses. The ideal would be that HISTORY studies would not require artificial divisions into narrow fields. I would be good to hear from a black student who has experienced this and an opinion about its perceived value.
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Name : Art Darwin, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Episcopalian, Age : 76, City : Morganton, State : NC, Country : United States, Occupation : Retired, Education level : 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class,Damned if you do, damned if you don’t. If the original poster wasn’t sensitive to this issue (I would have also assumed that blacks would be offended by such a meal as well), she would be a redneck, but by pointed out the issue, she’s overly PC. One thing I learned living in the US is that no two racial groups think alike when it comes to what is considered offensive or acceptable. I developed all of my beliefs about culture and sensitivity from the media and my peers. Even into the 90’s whites were still referring to Asians as ‘Orientals’ and while offended, I bit my tongue. Other non-white friends of mine were less understanding…
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Name : Ken, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : Asian, Religion : Agnostic, Age : 35, City : Seoul, State : NA, Country : Korea, Occupation : Public relations, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class,
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