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i don't understand why you'd want to give other people that much power over how you live your live, but by all means, feel free to continue doing so.
How? How am I giving other people power? By NOT speaking out, I'm giving them power. By being silent, I'm giving them power. By making some people look very foolish, I'm taking away their power.
How? How am I giving other people power? By NOT speaking out, I'm giving them power. By being silent, I'm giving them power. By making some people look very foolish, I'm taking away their power.
by giving them control over whether you will even dare to eat one of the forbidden foods in public, like you mentioned previously.
how are you making the kids in the school black student union look foolish?
Well, I care. I've actually heard a few people make watermelon jokes, and I didn't appreciate it. I took it as disrespectful. Why else would someone make watermelon jokes, around me, knowing the history of such stereotypes?
Just wanted to say that you can eat your watermelon and fight the stereotype at the same time.
Everyone is ridiculed or stereotyped at some point in their lives. You did mention that you would never eat watermelon in public due to the stereotype of blacks going crazy over watermelon.
As a black woman who likes watermelon, and who knows about the stereotype and understands its continuing to be used to ridicule us, if I want to eat a watermelon for a dessert, I will do so anyway.
You should not let people change your behavior. Someone is always going to think you a n*gge* and a pick-a-ninny and a coon or a criminal or a welfare mother. That is like me saying I should never go to the store with my kids and little cousins and their friends. I am frequently asked if I am using an EBT card at the store even though I dress well and before I even take out my mastercard debit card to pay. They hit the button for EBT lol. Because I am a black woman and I have a bunch of kids with me. I know I only have 2 and that the others are just tag-a-longs because I welcome playmates for my own (the other kids keep my kids from badgering me every 10 minutes lol). No one and no stereotype and not even being called a black n*gg*r ****** (which I have been called before at work) is going to keep me from doing what I want to do.
You are giving people too much control over your life if you change any of your normal, non-criminal behavior to suit the needs of another. IMO this is one of the worse issues of black Americans. Too many of us care way too much what others think of us. No matter what you eat or no matter what you do someone will think negatively of you. So eat watermelon all you want, use a spoon/fork like I do, or put your face in it lol. But if you want to eat it, eat it.
This is the thing. It isn't about the watermelon. It is about attributing watermelon exclusively to Black people. it is the history behind it that is to be considered.
From what I gather in this thread, the only people who are attributing watermelon exclusively to Black people, are............................Black people.
Every religion, every ethnicity has seen hard times, not the same hard times, but hard times nevertheless. When immigrants were coming to the US with passage of time each ethnic group was at the bottom of society, but the generations that followed got over it, moved on, and let go. Why do black people drag that luggage with them and pass it down from generation to generation and have the need to remind society at every turn the wrong that was done to their ancestors? The repetition isn't going to change history. All it does is continue to divide.
Should education include "food and perceptions" so that we know what food will offend what group? It can be about fried chicken, watermelon, pierogies, potatoes, pasta, tacos, Chinese food, Japanese food, and the list can go on and on and on. I have to wonder if Americans of Japanese descent are offended when they see someone who isn't Japanese eating sushi considering what we did to their country and what we did to American Japanese during the war.
Good grief. Do you know what year we are in? Start a movement to get watermelon banned. Let's make eating watermelon politically incorrect because it may conjure up the past and hurt someone's feelings. Aside from you, who uses those words or thinks that way today??
When I eat watermelon I'm too busy enjoying it because it is so mouthwatering good during the hot weather. Other thoughts might be a memory of a sandy beach or a picnic. And when I "see" someone eating watermelon I don't give it a thought, other than maybe wanting some.
I was stating the basis for why it's offensive. Those foods aren't any more black than okra or grits, but they (watermelon especially) are the ones with historical connotations that can be offensive to some people.
I was stating the basis for why it's offensive. Those foods aren't any more black than okra or grits, but they are the ones with historical connotations that can be offensive to some people.
Read my earlier post.
I'm certainly not going to stop eating food that has "historical connotations" because it might offend some ethnic group. If I did, I would starve to death.
Because those foods are not representative of black Americans. They are stereotypes that many of you, see previous commenters associate with us but they have no large cultural significance.
Things that could have been served that would have actually taught the children something about black culture in America:
Rice - many do not know that rice cultivation was done in Africa. Many slaves brought to America were taken from specific locations, especially the present day Angola because they specialized in rice cultivation and rice was a profitable crop that whites did not know how to grow so many black Americans are here as a result of rice agriculture
Okra - Okra is a plant native to Africa that was brought to America by black slaves. It is VERY nutritious and many people, especially kids have never eaten it. I had never had it until I was an adult and didn't know about its origins.
Sweet Potatoes/Yams - these are staples of the African diet and were also grown by slaves in America
Just those three above could have been made into a great meal of gumbo and sweet potatoe pie. Kids would have loved it and would have actually learned something about black history that is not common knowledge and it would have shown them that black people eating habits are not primarily dependent on stereotypical cuisines.
FYI, I am black. My husband hates watermelon and will not eat it at all. I like it, but most people like it, that is not something that is unique to black people, nor does it have any cultural significance worthy of being symbolic of "black history."
I also know many black people who do not eat chicken, some are vegetarian or pescatarian (only eat fish and no other animal protein). Not all black people like fried chicken but most everyone does. It is more of a southern tradition in America and is not something that should be in a black history menu either.
I don't think eating them is "offensive" I just think that if they are focusing on learning about black history for children that it is better to serve items that are not stereotypical of black people in this country and that it would be better to teach them some little known facts about the foods in our lives in our country especially that are of African origin or that were staples in the black diet previously. Chicken actually was very expensive and not many black people ate it prior to the 1950s. Not even in my family and my mom's family was actually pretty well off and middle class in the 30s and 40s. My grandma said they mostly had (disgusting) liver and kidneys for protein. They did have a couple chickens at their house but those were for eggs. They grew sweet potatoes and regular potatoes and also had an herb and "greens" garden. Greens would have been a good choice too for a menu since black people make greens differently than other people even to this day. I gave a white friend my great grandmother's recipe for greens (just basically winged it as I helped g grandma make it but there were no measurements) and my friend LOVED it and never had had greens like that before.
Kale is all the rage right now. My grandma's favorite green was kale and they grew kale and primarily mustard greens every year and those, tomatoes, carrots, and other can-able vegetables were their primary staples. They also had pear trees. All the black people I knew growing up had either a pear or apple tree.
Watermelon was a special treat, like it is for most people. Chicken was not common until all these fast food chicken places popped up due to the expense. So they should have looked for a better representation of black cuisine IMO than fried chicken and watermelon. They could even have jerked the chicken and learned about West Indian black cuisine. Jerk marinade can be made to not be as spicy for kids. But my kids love jerk chicken. Beans and rice are traditional African foods as well and can be made in many ways that could have been shared with the kids and that would have been healthier than fried chicken.
I know lots of black people who love fried chicken ,I also know lots of white people who love fried chicken.. a picnic basket usually have fried chicken in there with corn on the cob and potato salad and corn bread .. Oh boy!!
On a hot summer day , everyone usually cuts open the watermelon and is a big treat for the children and adults as well. Not all black people are from Africa. Blacks all have a different background and culture and they fit right in with all of us. I love the idea of all cultures coming together bringing their best dishes so we all can eat different foods. I don't see anyone really associated with fried chicken or watermelon.. just people who enjoy good tasting food.
I'm certainly not going to stop eating food that has "historical connotations" because it might offend some ethnic group. If I did, I would starve to death.
No one's regulating your or anyone else's private eating habits. But when a group attempts to commemorate Black history with symbols that have been used negatively in the past, it's understandable why people are offended.
No one's regulating your or anyone else's private eating habits. But when a group attempts to commemorate Black history with symbols that have been used negatively in the past, it's understandable why people are being offended.
Seems the thread went from what a few stupid individuals did (planning a menu) in a school and why it was offensive to food in general.
The families saw the school menu in advance and what was being served was an option. I don't know why those offended by the menu just didn't educate those who planned it and point out how it was offensive rather than making it a national issue?
I can guarantee you that there are plenty of schools that serve corned beef, cabbage and boiled potatoes on St. Patrick's day. I think the Irish should find the cabbage and boiled potatoes offensive and make a national issue out of it, after all the Irish have a history as well.
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