You Are What You Eat

 

I try to be courteous and sensitive to the people around me, and I take no pleasure in causing anyone offense.  But this item posted by our friend Ed Driscoll, has got me a bit perplexed.

This was posted yesterday at the Daily Caller:

A California university says it was bad taste to serve chicken and waffles on Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

Officials at the University of California, Irvine, say the menu of stereotypical black food was served on Jan. 17 — the first day of the school’s annual Martin Luther King Jr. symposium.

The dining hall advertised the meal as an “MLK Holiday Special.”

The co-chairman of the school’s Black Student Union and another student lodged formal complaints.

University spokeswoman Cathy Lawhon tells the Los Angeles Times that the cafeteria staff made a last-minute decision about the menu. She says the intention was to offer holiday comfort food. The company that runs the cafeteria says it will conduct cultural sensitivity training for its chefs and managers.

What I don’t understand:  Is this a fake controversy, perpetuated by those who seem to delight in taking offense in anything and everything?  Or is this truly a glaring incident of cultural insensitivity?  Next question:  Would it be culturally insensitive of me to serve burritos at a dinner party in honor of Cesar Chavez day? 

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  1. Profile Photo Member
    @

    Watermelon was out of season.

    • #1
  2. Profile Photo Member
    @

    Ricochet required me to take sensitivity training.

    Now, I know to say, “With all due respect…” before I refer to another member as a cretinous donkey.

    • #2
  3. Profile Photo Member
    @Misthiocracy

    I like chicken. I like waffles. I’ve never had them served together, however.

    • #3
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    @StickerShock

    I remember reading that Joe Lewis (I believe) would never eat watermelon in public because he would be derided for eating “black” food. Now we have people clamboring to get into all variety of ethnic restaurants.

    I’m with you, Diane. I didn’t get what the offense could possibly be. But I bake Irish soda bread on St. Pat’s day & serve corned beef & cabbage, so I’ve always thought ethnic foods were part of any celebration. All those “international understanding” days at my kids’ schools used food as a big part of the festivities, as well. We must be missing something.

    • #4
  5. Profile Photo Member
    @DianeEllis

    Misthiocracy: I like chicken. I like waffles. I’ve never had them served together, however. · Jan 31 at 12:18pm

    I have. In the historic Fillmore Jazz District down the street from me, there’s an establishment called Gussie’s Chicken and Waffles. It is a popular brunch destination for the parishoners of a predominantly black Pentecostal church in the neighborhood.

    The only thing that I found offensive about the experience was the clump of hair in my fried chicken.

    • #5
  6. Profile Photo Inactive
    @Foxman

    You are what you eat.

    Nonsense.

    [Comment redacted by editor]

    • #6
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    @rayconandlindacon

    Yet another example of “keep them off balance” by whining. You can’t win for losing. same-ol’ same-ol’. The usual stuff. PC monotony. Welcome to the University of California. Whatever…

    • #7
  8. Profile Photo Member
    @

    Chicken and Waffles is the Original Soul Food.

    The Blues and Jazz performers would finish a late gig and wanted something to tide over the difference between dinner and breakfast.

    Therfore it is a “Black” dish I’m guessing.

    The problem is that you can put something on the menu to “Honor” those pioneers of an art form which originated in the United States and the unpredictable Indignancy Industry will suddenly let you know once again that Offense Is In The Eye Of The Beholder!

    • #8
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    @Kervinlee

    Waffles? How did waffles become associated with black stereotypical foods?

    “Cultural sensitivity training for its chefs and managers.” What ridiculous people we have become.

    • #9
  10. Profile Photo Member
    @

    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.

    • #10
  11. Profile Photo Member
    @ChrisBogdan

    Phoenix has a place called Lo-Lo’s Chicken and Waffles. If anyone has made a stink about racial sterotypes it probably went unnoticed among the sound of a full restaurant. While I’ve never witnessed, first-hand, the demographic make up of the clientele, is it racist to point out that the owner is not some white guy?

    Stories like this make me think that some people just look for things to bother themselves over.

    • #11
  12. Profile Photo Member
    @DianeEllis

    Stone Douglas: …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. · Jan 31 at 12:39pm

    I believe it was intentional (despite the manager’s explanation of just wanting to serve generic comfort food). But granting that it was intentional, I don’t quite see how it’s offensive. As StickerShock said, Americans are known to incorporate culturally specific food into their holiday celebrations. And this not to be offensive, but rather to be festive.

    • #12
  13. Profile Photo Inactive
    @StuartCreque

    Roscoe’s House of Chicken and Waffles is famous in L.A — five locations, including Long Beach and Pasadena, with the first location having opened in 1975. (Here in Oakland we have the knock-off Home of Chicken and Waffles.)

    I am not sure chicken and waffles per se reflects what Dr. King might have dined on in the 1950s and 1960s. But this isn’t the first time a cafeteria has gotten in trouble for trying to honor Black history with a soul food holiday menu. Remember the ruckus at NBC’s headquarters in New York?

    • #13
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    @MBF

    There is a restaurant in Harlem that includes this on the menu (Chicken and Waffles). It is nicknamed “The Al Sharpton”.

    • #14
  15. Profile Photo Member
    @Claire

    I’m as baffled by the waffles as anyone. Waffles are Wasp food.

    • #15
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    @barbaralydick

    I’m not sure when the tradition started in my family, but a favorite Sunday noon dinner after church – if there was leftover roasted chicken – was chicken and gravy over homemade waffles. Very, very tasty. So I’m not certain it’s solely a Black dish. Or, maybe we were just practicing multiculturalism and diversity back in the ’50s…

    • #16
  17. Profile Photo Inactive
    @StuartCreque

    The Roscoe’s Chicken and Waffles commercial parody from the movie Tapeheads.

    • #17
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    @Pseudodionysius
    Claire Berlinski, Ed.: I’m as baffled by the waffles as anyone. Waffles are Wasp food. · Jan 31 at 12:49pm

    No kidding. The only thing I can think of is possibly the Aunt Jemima connection but that’s quite a stretch.

    • #18
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    @StuartCreque
    Claire Berlinski, Ed.: I’m as baffled by the waffles as anyone. Waffles are Wasp food. · Jan 31 at 12:49pm

    Say what?

    Waffle restaurants have been a Southern staple ever since the 1950s:

    The original Waffle House opened on Labor Day 1955 on East College Avenue in Decatur, Georgia. In 2008, the 13-stool diner that launched more than 1,500 Waffle Houses reopened as a Waffle House museum, with vintage equipment and memorabilia displays of old uniforms and place settings. “That was the year McDonald’s and all the hamburger chains started doing takeout,” Waffle House co-founder Joe Rogers told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution in 2008 of his idea to open a restaurant with his neighbor, Tom Forkner. “We wanted to do sit-down, and we knew you couldn’t take out a waffle or it’d become flimsy.”

    • #19
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    @Schwaibold

    Is there any food that can be served on MLK day that wouldn’t be insensitive one way or the other? Either it’s a stereotype, or you’re just ignoring the fact that it’s MLK day.

    • #20
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    @CaseyTaylor

    The military isn’t immune to this sort of thing. Every day of the year has a planned menu in Army dining facilities, by regulation. So, for instance, Monday is traditional breakfast, chicken w/ rice and beef stroganoff for lunch, some variation of those for dinner, and so on for every day of the week. Wednesdays have always been (for as long as I’ve been in) the DFAC version of “Mexican” food, and Thursdays are what used to be called soul food, but we’re not allowed to use that term any longer. Now, I’ve seen several different posts try to call it “home food Thursday”, “chicken Thursday”, “ribs Thursday”, “Southern food Thursday,” or variations on those; the Joes still call it soul food, and that’s the busiest day of the week for the dining facilities.

    • #21
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    @
    Claire Berlinski, Ed.: I’m as baffled by the waffles as anyone. Waffles are Wasp food. · Jan 31 at 12:49pm

    It is obvious you didn’t read my POST #8.

    So I guess I shall decist from posting in your threads in the future.

    • #22
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    @KennedySmith

    Waffles are nothing more than a reasonably sturdy platform for butter and syrup. I had no idea that when the President snapped at reporters “let me finish my waffle”, he was responding to racially-charged hate speech. The More You Know…

    • #23
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    @barbaralydick
    Is this a fake controversy, perpetuated by those who seem to delight in taking offense in anything and everything? Or is this truly a glaring incident of cultural insensitivity?

    It must be a situation brought to us by the PIAE* crowd. One of the saddest parts of the article is the fact that “The company that runs the cafeteria says it will conduct cultural sensitivity training for its chefs and managers.” — no doubt at the urging of the oh so sensitive UC Irvine staff.

    *P.J. O’Rourke: “Perpetually Indignant About Everything”

    • #24
  25. Profile Photo Member
    @
    jhimmi: Is there any food that can be served on MLK day that wouldn’t be insensitive one way or the other?

    Possum?

    • #25
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    @AaronMiller

    There’s a double-standard in our nation concerning black culture. Blacks are allowed to reference it, but whites aren’t.

    Just this weekend, my sister told me that she was dubbed “an honorary black person” by a black friend after helping at a food kitchen downtown as the only white person. Afterward, she was invited to a “black food” party. Imagine if she hosted a party like that — not like “Italian night.”

    Guess what fast food places you’re most likely to find blacks at in my area? KFC and Popeyes. Guess what music most young blacks around here listen to? Rap and R&B. We have nightclubs founded by blacks for blacks. We have black TV stations (BET). None of these things are directly related to skin color. They’re products of culture.

    I’m a Texan. I love steaks and barbeque. But if I didn’t, would it be reasonable for me to be offended if someone chose BBQ for the menu on Sam Houston Day?

    There’s a difference between assuming someone will like particular food because of their skin color and offering food related to a culture which, like all cultures, has ethnic associations.

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    @
    Diane Ellis, Ed.

    I believe it was intentional (despite the manager’s explanation of just wanting to serve generic comfort food). But granting that it was intentional, I don’t quite see how it’s offensive. As StickerShock said, Americans are known to incorporate culturally specific food into their holiday celebrations. And this not to be offensive, but rather to be festive. · Jan 31 at 12:46pm

    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.

    • #27
  28. Profile Photo Member
    @
    Casey Taylor: The military isn’t immune to this sort of thing. Every day of the year has a planned menu in Army dining facilities, by regulation. So, for instance, Monday is traditional breakfast, chicken w/ rice and beef stroganoff for lunch, some variation of those for dinner, and so on for every day of the week. Wednesdays have always been (for as long as I’ve been in) the DFAC version of “Mexican” food, and Thursdays are what used to be called soul food, but we’re not allowed to use that term any longer. Now, I’ve seen several different posts try to call it “home food Thursday”, “chicken Thursday”, “ribs Thursday”, “Southern food Thursday,” or variations on those; the Joes still call it soul food, and that’s the busiest day of the week for the dining facilities. · Jan 31 at 12:58pm

    What? No Asian-food theme day?

    Perhaps the culinary powers that be would cringe at how crusty Vietnam vets might refer to that….

    • #28
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    @Palaeologus
    Claire Berlinski, Ed.: I’m as baffled by the waffles as anyone. Waffles are Wasp food. · Jan 31 at 12:49pm

    Wasps have their own foods? Who knew? I always figured they just rotated amongst the different “ethnic/regional cuisines.”

    Did a quick search for “wasp foods” and found this:

    http://www.kappaprep.com/2009/08/wasp-wednesday-wasp-food.html

    • #29
  30. Profile Photo Member
    @

    And, serve no arugula also. We all know that arugula is a “dog-whistle right wing signal” for anti-Obama sentiment, most inappropriate on that auspicious day.

    The more we celebrate multiculturalism the more divided we become, because the “d”s – (diet, dance, dress, ditties, etc) become the sole province of one group to the exclusion of others.

    • #30
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