Students and parents of all-girl private school Carondelet High School in San Francisco were offended when a menu of fried chicken, watermelon, and cornbread was presented as an option to observe Black History Month.
A group of students brainstorming ways to celebrate Black History Month posed the idea for the menu, apparently overlooking the racial overtones to Black minstrel shows and the symbolism of the food for Blacks.
The school quickly removed the lunch menu and Principal Nancy Libby issued an apology letter to parents.
“I’d like to apologize for the announcement and any hurt this caused students, parents or community members,” the apology letter said. “Please know that at no time at Carondelet do we wish to perpetuate racial stereotypes.”
While the school has apologized for the racial misstep, some Carondelet students have expressed their own views that society is “too sensitive” to the subject of race.
Gabby Simones, a junior at the school who is Latina, backed the idea of the soul food menu, saying, “On Cinco de Mayo we would have probably had enchiladas, rice and beans.” As Robert Jackson, a teacher at Acts Christian Academy, pointed out to the student, the origins of this food carries much more of a historical symbolism dating back to slavery.
Fried chicken and watermelon have often been used in the comedic but lazy images of “Sambo” and dark-skinned motherly figure “Mammy” images of Blacks. An in-depth analysis of the origin of the fried chicken stereotype conducted by NPR connects the dots for those unfamiliar with its roots.
“We talk about soul food because it was actually food we used that was left over from the master’s table and we used it to restore our soul and restore our hope,” Jackson said.
This proposed menu was definitely a celebration gone wrong but a valuable teaching lesson for all involved nonetheless.
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