Posted on 02/06/2014 3:45:35 PM PST by nickcarraway
Administrators at a Northern California private school are facing tough questions and offering a big apology after a menu controversy.
Students at Carondelet High School for Girls in Concord wanted to come up with ways to celebrate Black History Month in a lunchtime celebration. But when the Christian school announced a lunch of fried chicken, cornbread and watermelon, students and parents were outraged and offended.
The principal and dean of the school refused to talk to NBC Bay Area on Wednesday, but school officials held an assembly on campus to discuss the issue and sent an apology letter to parents.
"I'd like to apologize for the announcement and any hurt this caused students, parents or community members," Principal Nancy Libby said in the letter. "Please know that at no time at Carondelet do we wish to perpetrate racial stereotypes."
University of San Francisco professor James Taylor said he can see why some students and teachers would be offended, even though the lunch may have been well-intentioned.
"Chicken, watermelon, collard greens — these stereotypes of black Southern culture that come from the same place where the N-word comes from," he said.
Ruth Wilson, chair of the African-American Studies Department at San Jose State University, said the food isn't offensive, per se — in fact, fried chicken is an American mainstay, thanks in large part to Kentucky Fried Chicken's Colonel Sanders.
The reason this particular meal sparks bad feelings, she said, is because blackface-era cartoons and plays showed African-Americans eating these foods in ugly caricature depictions.
The school community could have prevented this, she said, by reaching out to the key stakeholders — black students and parents — and asked them what they think was appropriate. In Silicon Valley, she added, many blacks are not even from the United States, but from around the world and may have enjoyed another cultural dish.
Several students told NBC Bay Area that Libby talked to members of the Black Student Union on campus, and the students suggested that the watermelon be taken off the menu.
Libby agreed to make that change, they said. She also said in a letter to the school community that they will remove fried chicken and cornbread from the menu.
“”In Silicon Valley, she added, many blacks are not even from the United States, but from around the world and may have enjoyed another cultural dish. “”
When was Concord relocated to the Silicon Valley?
What did the students and parents prefer to see on the school menu? Any ideas or just criticism?
...Students at Carondelet High School for Girls...
Is there a Carondelet School for Boys? I doubt not, but I'm sure people would only care if there was a school for boys, but not girls.....
Sorry - I didn’t know the last part had already been posted...lost track.
“But when the Christian school announced a lunch of fried chicken, cornbread and watermelon, students and parents were outraged and offended.”
Apparently, they forgot the grape soda.
I would love to have a plate of catfish, collards and corn bread right now. Oh, don’t forget the hushpuppies.
What doofuses. Its like they live to be offended. Would anyone object to a school serving corned beef and cabbage on St. Paddy’s Day, or spaghetti and meatballs on Columbus Day?
Fried chicken, cornbread and collard greens are good eating and should produce good feelings. Watermelon might be a bit much however, due to the winter season
Who was offended? I bet the most offended people were white.
“they forgot the grape soda”.
It’s not grape soda, MWT... it grape drank.
I’ll take the watermelon, you have the fried chicken and cornbread. I love watermelon!!
Maybe it should have been Kraft macaroni and cheese with a 40.
Yeah, well Nazi's ate Bratwurst, Kartoffelsalat, Sauerbraten, Stollen, Pfefferpotthast and Lager, and if you think I'm giving those up or denying where they came from you're crazy, you fantastically offensive, divisive, insulting, stupid, racist b***h.
And don’t even get me started on Sushi, dammit.
So if there are any black students at that school, and they were asked to come up with a menu for Black History month, how much would anyone want to bet they’d come up with the SAME FOODS? But then it would be OK, because the black kids thought of it themselves, and wouldn’t be a stereotype, at all!
I love fried chicken and watermelons. I could eat watermelons every day in the summer. Nothing else is better. I grew up in MS where we had our own chickens beef and pork. In the summer, we grew both red and yellow watermelons, and cantaloupes. Everyone I knew ate the same things. I remember one summer,something happened to our watermelons. My dad had a friend who had more than he could use so we would go there and buy from him. I even remember the price-—4 for a dollar. What a deal! I do not understand why there are not more yellw ones. They are sweeter than the red.
“...key stakeholders... “
Of lunch?! That’s bureaucratese gone wild LOL!
Back in 1968 and 1972, Bill Mauldin did two cartoons of a Presidential candidate eating watermelon and spitting out the seeds. The person was...GEORGE WALLACE.
Earlier thread if anyone is interested in reading the comments thereon:
...
East Bay high school nixes plan to honor black history
with fried chicken, watermelon ^
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/3120045/posts
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