5/10

Drug Fueled Mice sounds like the name of an Indie Rock band.

I knew there was trouble when they flew in Christina Aguilera to sing Egypt's National Anthem.

Well Kenneth, you definitely don't want to watch this hilarious World War II Donald Duck cartoon.

I'm not sure if there's a difference between doing something racist and being a racist, and I don't intend to argue that point otherwise.

But I'm more than happy to admit the error on my part  when I said that somebody was being racist in this case. I didn't know that for a fact, and it's probably not true. I shouldn't have said that. I should have said that whoever suggested the chicken and waffle idea to the chef did so in bad taste, and that the chef acted in bad taste by putting it on the menu.

I hope I've sufficiently satisfied the language police.

Again, I think it's stupid that they needed to find "black food" to serve on the day to begin with. Schools are not places where racial divisions should be emphasized. That said, it's still in bad taste to serve chicken and waffles on MLK Day, and that's primarily because of two reasons: 1)There's nothing to suggest that MLK ever ate a meal of chicken and waffles, and 2)It's NOT A TRADITIONAL AFRICAN AMERICAN DISH!!!!!!

I'm not calling anybody a racist, because that would just be self-defeating and inane. But I think it was certainly in bad taste, no matter who suggested it be done. However, I would point out that in the quote, "'The chef's goal was to do something nice for the students and he did ask for input from several African American student employees in the dining hall," that it doesn't actually say that any African American student employees actually said that chicken and waffles should actually be served, it merely says that the Chef asked for input from them. Now, maybe the student employees did suggest that, but it was still in bad taste.

At least "soul food" is traditional African American cuisine and not some stereotypical thing that people just assume black people eat.

At least "soul food" is traditional African American cuisine and not some stereotypical thing that people just assume black people eat.

I have no idea what food I'd select. I'm not an expert on African American cuisine or anything. But if I was in charge at the school, I'd probably question the need for race-based lunches in general. I don't think that schools are a place to honor any specific race, creed, religion, gender, sexual preference, or whatever.

So, you really think that chicken and waffles are some kind of "traditional black people food" along the lines of corned beef and cabbage? Are you joking? I mean, while corned beef and cabbage isn't a traditional Irish meal, it's a pretty big part of St. Patrick's Day (as well as Irish-American culture) going back a hundred years or so, and it's actually comparatively similar to some Irish dishes. Chicken and waffles is a dish that came from specialty restaurants in the U.S, and I'm pretty sure that no black family waits all year to sit around the table and enjoy a nice big chicken and waffle dinner.

What? I really don't understand your point. For one thing, I don't spend any amount of time at all telling people what they can/can't eat. For another, I resent the implication that I'm some politically correct tofu-eater just because, in this one case, I do think that somebody was being racist towards black people. I agree that most of the time, when people go around calling each other "racists," that it is a big nothingburger cooked up by somebody that is desperate to be offended and call other people "racists." But sometimes, you have to call a spade a spade.

There is a difference in the two cases. In one case, you have people in a foreign country that legitimately thought that Americans actually eat ketchup with everything. There are lots of cultural barriers between America and Russia, so that makes the mistake a lot more forgivable. But in the case we're discussing, our fellow Americans are being stereotyped by their fellow Americans. And it's happening along racial lines. And it's not some innocent mistake either, because I'm pretty sure that everybody in this country knows that black people don't only eat chicken and waffles, whereas it sounds like the Russians in your example did think that Americans eat ketchup with everything.

It's offensive because this is a prevalent stereotype of African Americans--that all they eat is fried chicken and waffles (and watermelon and kool aid too), and obviously whoever decided to serve that meal on that specific day was either trying to offend black people or was making a really bad, really racist joke out of MLK Day.

MLK Day does not exist for the sole enjoyment of African Americans. It's supposed to be a day that all Americans, regardless of race, gender, or ethnicity, can celebrate because we all should support the message that King tried to convey--a message that was apparently lost on whoever decided to serve chicken and waffles on MLK Day.

Come on. I'm the first guy to call bullcrap when someone is falsely accused of racism or if somebody is playing the race card, but in this case it is obvious that somebody at the school was being racially biased against black students.

I love chicken. I love waffles. But does anybody really think that the cafeteria just happened to be serving chicken and waffles as the "MLK Holiday Special" without any idea of what they were doing? Come on.

I dunno. From my experience, I'm extra cautious when driving while stoned.