Xaverian Brother School served Fried Chicken for black history month (Boston: how much, private school)

[htfdcolt]

Originally Posted by pennyone

So...should we not use rice, or dumplings or Kimchee, or Egg Foo Yung when we do Asian American History month?

I'm saying--how about you actually involve Asian Americans in the dialogue, about how to best observe the month of May, if food is involved.

You proved my point with your question--you just excluded the folks of South Asian descent in your food suggestions.

[msRB311]

I don’t think she was intending to cover the entire continent of Asia’s cuisine.

[BostonBornMassMade]

I don’t think this was offensive. Maybe shouldn’t have done it just considering todays climate but like…no that’s not offensive to me.

[Lampert]

Originally Posted by steiconi

Father X: Mr. James, you're African-American. What would you suggest we serve?
Mr. James: Well, different parts of Africa favor different types of food. I like Kapenta with sadza, from Zimbabwe.

In what world are African-Americans so into African cuisine? I have had Africans roommates and African American roommates and their day to day cooking is nothing alike. African Americans that have been here for generation cook and eat American food (unsurprisingly).

[msRB311]

There are quite a few African restaurants in the area and some people are really into it. I just don't think this cuisine has become quite as normalized as Asian, European or South American foods for example. I mean i'm not sure a group of high school boys would really be into traditional African cuisine cooked by school cafeteria workers. I could see many types of foods getting messed up while being cooked at a high school. If I'm going to try a new food probably best to go to a restaurant.

[id77]

Originally Posted by Lampert

This article may have some truth but "chicken is eaten with hands then dirty food" sounds pretty dumb take. There are plenty of food people eat with their hands, not just chicken.

BTW, the reference is a silent movie? And you expect people to know about it in 2020?

Anyway, I looked into it and black Americans eat significantly more chicken and fish than Americans of any other race. I am talking about 50% more. Also slightly more turkey and pork.
https://countinganimals.com/meat-con...ce-and-gender/

So really it isn't that surprising that a guy at the cafeteria thought it was a good idea probably without malice.

The original meaning and cultural significance doesn't really matter today aside from understanding the origins of the trope, but what does matter (and is covered later in the article) is that it got picked up and carries on to this day as a dog whistle to racists: "It's still a way to express racial [contempt] without getting into serious trouble," as the article quotes.

We shouldn't be upset about its use today because we may or may not know about a silent movie or its terribly racist director or that eating with one's hands was seen as dirty 100 years ago. We should be upset with its use today because acting like it's no big deal is exactly what those ugly racist elements want to see from their dog whistles. There's also absolutely nothing inherently bad about cheering on a friend named Brandon, but if you say "Let's Go" to him, there will be people who will understand your innocent cheer in a very different way, and that's exactly what's happening here with fried chicken.

[BostonBornMassMade]

Originally Posted by Lampert

In what world are African-Americans so into African cuisine? I have had Africans roommates and African American roommates and their day to day cooking is nothing alike. African Americans that have been here for generation cook and eat American food (unsurprisingly).

In the Boston area specifically a lot of African Americans eat African food.

Also, the cooking is somewhat alike- there are mountains of evidence to point to that. Sweet Potatoes approximate yams, collard greens approximate African greens. Jambalaya and Gumbo approximate Africans stew with a switch of protein usually from fish to pork/chicken/sausage. Carolina Gold Rice is a descendent of West African Rice. Pigeon peas, black-eyed peas, and okra all have west African domestication roots.

Barbeque also come from the West African traiditon of cooking your food over an open pit. Indeed, "the word barbecue also has roots in West Africa among the Hausa, who used the term “babbake” to describe a complex of words referring to grilling, toasting, building a large fire, singeing hair or feathers and cooking food over a long period of time over an extravagant fire."

https://www.theguardian.com/commenti...avagant%20fire.

There are more similarities with spices and heat level too..

These are the things that actually should be posted around the cafeteria and explored during Black History Month...not simply serving fried Chicken. But it's Xaverian so what could you really expect.

[massnative71]

Originally Posted by htfdcolt

I'm saying--how about you actually involve Asian Americans in the dialogue, about how to best observe the month of May, if food is involved.

You proved my point with your question--you just excluded the folks of South Asian descent in your food suggestions.

You mean like involving an African American cafeteria worker, who CAME UP WITH THE PLAN TO BEGIN WITH?


But wait, if it's not Cajun style then you're leaving out blacks who descended from Louisiana. SHAME SHAME SHAME. I'll also make a note not to serve pasta with marinara on Italian day because that excludes Northern Italians. And FORGET about Caribbean day, wouldn't want jerk chicken served because that spice is so "un-Puerto Rican". Enough with the fun kids, sorry.

[massnative71]

Originally Posted by BostonBornMassMade

These are the things that actually should be posted around the cafeteria and explored during Black History Month...not simply serving fried Chicken. But it's Xaverian so what could you really expect.

It's not just a Xaverian thing. Most high school kids realistically aren't going to have much of an appetite for "exploration" (maybe save for a school like BLS or Snowden). The point of this was merely to have a little fun, while at the same time giving a little acknowledgement to a particular group's contribution to American cuisine. You wouldn't think it be an issue, but...

[msRB311]

I agree the big part of the issue here is that it’s a high school cafeteria. Sounds like some people wanted to do something somewhat easy to recognize something.

If there was ever a day or month to celebrate Italians I could see a cafeteria saying ok let’s have pizza. That doesn’t mean we shouldn’t realize there aren’t other foods Italians are well know for

Sheesh.