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Running racism in America thread

Discussion in 'Sports and News' started by Scout, May 26, 2020.

  1. Azrael

    Azrael Well-Known Member

    Again, it's not whether any individual - black or white - enjoys the chicken, enjoys the watermelon.

    It's the pernicious assumption that all Black people enjoy fried chicken and watermelon because they're Black.
     
  2. Azrael

    Azrael Well-Known Member

    I think Aramark just demonstrated that.
     
    OscarMadison likes this.
  3. doctorquant

    doctorquant Well-Known Member

    You may, but I don't.
     
    Azrael likes this.
  4. Azrael

    Azrael Well-Known Member

    If Aramark's menu director had even a casual awareness of these stereotypes, would he or she have done the same thing?
     
  5. Azrael

    Azrael Well-Known Member

    Which is just one of the reasons this stuff needs to be taught in schools, contra DeSantis.
     
    swingline and OscarMadison like this.
  6. The Big Ragu

    The Big Ragu Moderator Staff Member

    Fried chicken and watermelon was a minstrel show caricature. That's where it came from. Like get into blackface and do a skit. ... and the ha ha became this cartoonish ignorant and lazy black person who loves watermelon. Like a child raiding the cookie jar.

    That's where it comes from, so of course it has hurtful conotations.

    It doesn't mean that a white person can't eat watermelon without thinking about that, or even have chicken and watermelon without it necessarily being an attempted racist trope.

    But geez, this is not one of those things where people are trying to turn something specious into an "a ha, racism!" woke drama. There's good reason why a black person would be sensitive about it in the context of "African-American" anything. There is a long history, dating back to slavery, of it being thrown out there as something that was attempting to demean black people. It's really difficult to pawn this one off on, "Oh, it was an innocent mistake. Y'all are just assuming racism where nobody could possibly have been thinking about that."
     
  7. doctorquant

    doctorquant Well-Known Member

    Come on ...
     
    Azrael likes this.
  8. Regan MacNeil

    Regan MacNeil Well-Known Member

    How else does one combat ignorance?
     
  9. Azrael

    Azrael Well-Known Member

    I only know what I read in the papers . . .

    What is behind Ron DeSantis’s Stop-Woke Act? | Cas Mudde

    Sorry, Ron DeSantis, Black conservatives can't replace CRT

    DeSantis says Florida will cut funding to all CRT, DEI programs: ‘wither on the vine’

    Last year the governor signed legislation dubbed the Stop WOKE Act that restricts certain race-based conversations and analysis, in schools and businesses. The law bars instruction that says members of one race are inherently racist or should feel guilt for past actions committed by others of the same race, among other things.
     
    2muchcoffeeman and TigerVols like this.
  10. Regan MacNeil

    Regan MacNeil Well-Known Member

    He figuratively made white guilt illegal.
     
  11. doctorquant

    doctorquant Well-Known Member

    I'm sure Aramark's menu planning staff is just chock full of folks who: 1) have absolutely never heard of the fried-chicken-and-watermelon trope; or 2) are always looking for an opportunity to sneak a jab in at minorities.

    It almost certainly was an innocent mistake. That it has been perceived as an instance of racism is because people have chosen to interpret it as such.
     
    WriteThinking and Azrael like this.
  12. Azrael

    Azrael Well-Known Member

    Just to be clear, I'm not saying it's an instance of racism.

    I'm saying even an innocent mistake perpetuates a stereotype.
     
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