Image Source: Wikipedia
When the well-intentioned all girls Catholic school in Northern California announced that fried chicken, cornbread and watermelon would be served in honor of Black History Month it sparked much controversy as being stereotypical and degrading.
According to one media source, Blacks are not even the largest consumers of watermelon and University of San Francisco Professor James Taylor is quoted in the media saying that the fried chicken, cornbread and watermelon stereotype comes from the same place as the “N-word” comes from.
I am not so sure that I agree that fried chicken and cornbread are akin to the “N-word”. I think that the images are controversial because they bring back memories of negative “blackface” portrayals of Black people eating fried chicken and watermelon. Some say the fried chicken image suggests that blacks are dirty because they are eating it with their hands.
On the other hand, I can understand why white people are confused about what is “politically correct” when it comes to honoring African Americans. Notwithstanding the negative stereotype of watermelon, fried chicken and corn bread are popular southern dishes and therefore popular among African Americans, many of whom hailed from the South. For many years, I lived in a community that held Black History Month celebrations, including a “feast” at the end of the program. Often the menu included fried chicken, corn bread and collard greens. My Christmas dinner menu includes turkey, collard greens, sweet potatoes, macaroni and cheese and cornbread, and I bet if you took a poll more African American households than white households would have this identical menu.
The reports of this incident indicated that school officials checked with the Black History Club and they asked that the watermelon be taken off the menu, not the fried chicken and cornbread. Somehow, there was a breakdown in communication and the watermelon did not get removed from the menu.
There is a real lack of knowledge about the history of different groups and why fried chicken and cornbread would be offensive. Is this type of situation only offensive when the idea is conceived and carried out by whites? It is like some people who believe that we can use the “N-word” within the black community but whites better not say it?
