School District Apologizes for MLK Lunch Menu

good writing. they will do anything to play the race card. anything...

I totally agree with you. Although I'm not black, this is one of my favorite meals hands down! Also, as for teachable moments, I have never seen sweet potatoes or collard greens on any menu that my kids have brought home, so I believe that they are opening a door for many children that may never have had the chance to try a different regional flavor.

The fact that they were recognizing Martin Luther King day is also huge. In the school district we live in, this day has been a teacher work day for the last several years so they would not have to deal with this issue. I believe this is really a positive step showing more acceptance.

Here's an important question, would Martin Luther King Jr. have enjoyed the meal? He was southern after all, and the menu sounds to me like it consisted of some great southern food.

Exactly how is this stereotype a hurtful one anyway? Southern blacks, (and southern whites by the way), largely grew up on this kind of fare. So what's wrong with acknowledging that? Where's the insult?

Not only don't I think that the Denver School District has anything to apologize for, I think they should go right on ahead and serve the food they had originally planned to serve.

I SO agree with you. I am 67 and grew up eating that entire menu except for the greens (ick) because my mom was born and raised in Oklahoma. This is not a stereotipical meal, it is a meal enjoyed by people from every state. All peoples from all places have a percentage of racist thinking people, sad but true. I can not tell you the number of racist emails I have received before and since the election. I was raised to take people for what they are NOT for what color or religion they were. My father was Jewish and many of my relatives died in the holocaust. My family knew first hang what evil comes with bigotry of any kind. It really ticks me off that people look for reasons to yell racism. I have Native American ancestry as well and I never hear anyone comment on what was done to them OR complain that some remark, menu, movie, whatever was racist. When you look for discrimination you usually find it, for real or in your mind.
The school district should have ignored the complaint. This PC crapola is getting hard to swallow. They should take a poll of howmany kids in the district have never eaten any of the foods on the menu. ENOUGHALEAdy!!!!!

i CAN'T WAIT until 2050 an see what white people jokes come up because they will no longer be the majority in your country

Correct, why do they assume that only blacks like fried chicken? Has anyone heard of Col Sanders and Kentucky Fried Chicken? A white southern gentleman who got rich because everybody likes fried chicken.

I really don't see what the hoopla is about. These are dishes enjoyed by many different cultures. I could get offended about the tradition of serving Corn Beef and Cabbage on St. Patrick's Day which was a dish never and still not served in Ireland on any day of the week never mind the holiday... Why is it that people are always trying to stir things up.......... Live and let live.

I agree, I think people just need quit being so sensitive. Today's world there are so many people that have more than one race in there genes. It's just sad that a school district tries to honor the man (MLK) by offering a southern meal in memorance of MLK who happens to be from the south, and then it is thrown back in the district's faces as being sterotype that "since he or she is black they eat fried chicken." Me, personally being from the midwest I have seen this often. I have seen people from both white and black races turn away from someone or treat them differently because they are different skin color. I have heard black people refer to white people as racists with no apparant reason because they are black. I have seen black people get treated differently in predominatly white neighborhood for no particular reason, and most recently a black lady who I work with in the same building called me a nazi one morning because my hair was creased or parted in a certain way(bedhead), and now will just give me dirty looks whenever she happens to see me in the building. But to finish this up people who are racist or dont like a particular race will find someway to criticize someone else's means no matter how much you kill with them kindness. But hey this is America where republicans will have their kids stay home from school because they don't want them listening to a democratic president to tell them to do well in school. *GAG*

it's not like they are serving caviar. And Negroes, as they still intend to call, African Americans, aren't always trying to play the racecard. See it all the time. Prime example, when you have a African American President, and you go to work, and you hear so much silence that it's disturbing, but, sometimes, words don't need to be spoken, look at your facial expression, sometimes, and figure out who plays the race card,, in my words, all of us do, at some time or another, and we still can't seem to come to an agreement that we are equal. Why not, when in all reality, just because we have the same kind of blood, do you think that a person that have racial tendicies wants that blood, but, when he or she is on ther dyiong bed, do you think they care where or who that blood came from. People get a life, to much other stuff going ontto be worried about some darn chicken, there are peopple starving, no homes, most of jobs, then worrying about, people playing the race card, to me, the sorry person taht says Blacks are always playing the race card, needs a reality check, and sit bac and figure out how many people out here, today, 2010, that are just struggling to make ends meet.

Right on Liz. That meal looked really appealing to me. I would serve it in my house and I'm white. I wouldn't take offense if the school served polish sausage and cabbage to honor polish heros and I'm polish. I would take it as a compliment. I can't believe what I'm hearing and seeing when everything uttered is a racist.

And to Morgan, you are the dip here, why do you look at what everyone in the world does as racist. Aren't you and the others just a little to obsessed with this kind of stuff. Why don't you get a life, get out a little & enjoy yourself instead of trying to dissect everyone's, thoughts, words and actions. Why don't you take on the job as a lunch preparer at the school, then you can make sure none of the meals are offensive to anyone.

I think it's about time that people of all races stop apologizing for
any unintended remark that's nonoffensive to about 99% of the population of the US and about 9999999999% of the World.
Other peoople have important things to do,in life,like try to exist in the face of war and ecological disastersm or get up & go to work to put bread on the table.

my thoughts exactly! my grandfather was from georgia and we ate food like that (we are white).

My history teacher and I talked about this in class today. We knew more obvious hate words, but it took watching a film from the 70's (talking about Pam Grier got to this), to learn certain words. Im 20 and I think she is in her 40s or so. We just werent raised with it, so if it is not totally in our face, we will not see it.
I went to Europe, and I saw some things that scrame stereotype to me, but the blacks over there did not seem to care at all. A girl in the group said she was OK because it was not with ill intent.

I totally agree that there was nothing racist with the "southern meal". I am white and often eat such a menu and love it (except the sweet potatoes). I am getting tired of the race card being played over such ignorant interpertations such as this. Hell, if there had been nothing but a watermellon I could have agreed with the persons distaste and resentment for the meal. We have a black president now. That should do a lot for getting rid of the race card game. There will always be differences of opinions from different races toward the other. I promise you it won't always be black and white!

Sometimes I think we as black people play the race card when it has nothing to do with race. I'm from Denver Colorado and reside in Atlanta since 2004. And that menu would be welcomed. What in the world does southern fried chicken and greens and sweet potatoes have to do with dishonoring King? Come on now. This is a classic example of making a mountain out of a moehill. If anything it is a compliment to the black race and MLK being that schools rarely experience southern cooking. So maybe it can be a teachable moment to those children who arent familiar with southern cooking and are used to ravioli or the boring school lunches that are usually served.

For the full experience, the meal should be purchased with food stamps, and when the students finish, they should complain that it wasn't enough, and wasn't nearly as good as what was offered on Columbus Day.

Political Correctness is censorship of the worst kind.

And then the school makes a complete fool of itself removing and apologizing.

Jennifer Holladay makes me shiver to think that this oversensitive twit has been allowed to influence young minds.
She paints a wide swath over people with this comment:
"These caricatures can slip in without any malicious intent."
Are you kidding?
It is you who creates a false character of MKL with such absurdity.
It is you who disrespects the memory of Dr. King
It is you blasting and stereotyping people as mindless bigots and raciest.
Dr. King was not a deity or God to be worshiped in your vision.
The memory of what he stood for, the actions he took, the real life consequence of those actions.
You disrespect that memory with your PC thought police nonsense.

My sentiments exactly. I appreciate the "sister" trying to be sensitive to the black plight, but she needs to focus on issues of real concern. Such as the fact that our Black children are still not getting an equal education, or that Black schools are poorly equipped, or that teachers in general are not being paid adequately for the awesome responsibilities they have. I agree that MLK surely would have enjoyed that meal himself and actually it made me an envious, that I wasn't served. Please let us all start to focus on issues that are really important to all people and act as if we all belong the the most prominent race---the Human
Race.

Well said!

Beautifully put. Besides, the kids will miss a good meal. What is the difference in honoring someone from Idaho with potatoes, or Florida with softshell crab, or Maine with lobster? Foods are a part of our culture. Don't waste time contemplating food "stereotypes "when we should be addressing so many other truly insensitive remarks.