3 ms·

I never understood this stereotype. Yes, my entire family and I love fried chicken, who the hell doesn't??? I wonder how different things would be if the stereo

by roninb 10y ago

I never understood this stereotype. Yes, my entire family and I love fried chicken, who the hell doesn't??? I wonder how different things would be if the stereotype was pizza, cake, or some other universally loved foodstuffs.

iamdave 10y ago
Probably not so much with things like chicken legs and wings per se, but 'soul food' (or at least certain offerings) have their roots going back to sharecropping and late slavery (probably even throughout the entirety of the American slave trade) where certain scraps of meat and animal deemed "unfit/unsavory" for the plantation family to eat were given to the slaves to feast on and were eventually integrated as part of the culinary tradition of Black Americans. I would imagine, without going too far down the research rabbit hole (because this is a close topic to me being both black and a lover of food history in general) that the whole "fried chicken and watermelon" thing are likely poorly understood branches coming from that evolutionary tract.
- roninb 10y ago
  I totally agree and have read supporting evidence backing your entire first paragraph. But I've never seen that evidence suggest chicken and watermelon fell into the chitterlings and ham hock category.
  - iamdave 10y ago
    Yeah that's why I say I think it's just a misunderstood thing coming from that tract; meaning over time casual associations of certain food groups now considered "staples" of soul food became less and less understood and discussed along with other aspects of that era of time to the point where foods that were never there to begin with got tossed in, no one checked it and everyone else ran with it. Take Huey P. Newton for example, I've had plenty of frank, honest and open discussions with individuals who want to tell me everything they know about Huey P. Newton and his "radical-ness" and his "anger" and his "passion" as a Black Panther because of whatever oral tradition they've had passed down to them informing their viewpoint of the man-but it never goes very far beyond surface-level descriptions, and rarer still his philosophies or doctoral essays. Substitute Newton with James Baldwin, Clarence Thomas, MLK, heck even Dr. Cornel West. I think the same unfortunate blurring of the culinary traditions of Black Americana has happened re: Fried Chicken and Watermelon-thin, surface-level oral traditions passed down time and time again until we got where we are now "Fried chicken, watermelon and purple koolaid" are for good or ill tied into every conversation of "black foods".
    - roninb 10y ago
      Thanks for clarifying. I can see exactly what you're talking about when I hear people talk about how Malcolm X needed to die because he wanted to kill all whites as if he wasn't excommunicated for preaching peace and unity after his pilgrimage.
neutronicus 10y ago
I live in Boulder, CO, and not liking fried chicken (amongst numerous other, less-racially-charged foodstuff) is a status-signaling thing here, I think.
- pdeuchler 10y ago
  Not to say there isn't a huge problem with attitudes towards race in Boulder, but I've encountered people here who broke off long term relationships because a partner refused to go militant vegan and instead remained merely vegetarian, so I wouldn't place too much stock in the mind blowing food neuroses that tend to be common around these parts. And not to derail the conversation, but as a fellow Boulderite who desperately misses having a a Popeyes within 20 minutes, have you found any good fried chicken places? I have yet to find anything besides Yellowbelly and the exceptionally terrible KFC on Arapahoe.
  - neutronicus 10y ago
    I googled "best fried chicken in Boulder" and literally every place I found had closed since earning the honor.
    - pdeuchler 10y ago
      Argh. That and good barbecue seem to just not exist here.
tnecniv 10y ago
I mean, it's a parallel stereotype to making fun of Italians for eating pizza. It doesn't make more sense than <ethnicity> likes <ethnic food>!

by roninb 10y ago

iamdave 10y ago

Probably not so much with things like chicken legs and wings per se, but 'soul food' (or at least certain offerings) have their roots going back to sharecropping and late slavery (probably even throughout the entirety of the American slave trade) where certain scraps of meat and animal deemed "unfit/unsavory" for the plantation family to eat were given to the slaves to feast on and were eventually integrated as part of the culinary tradition of Black Americans. I would imagine, without going too far down the research rabbit hole (because this is a close topic to me being both black and a lover of food history in general) that the whole "fried chicken and watermelon" thing are likely poorly understood branches coming from that evolutionary tract.

roninb 10y ago
I totally agree and have read supporting evidence backing your entire first paragraph. But I've never seen that evidence suggest chicken and watermelon fell into the chitterlings and ham hock category.
- iamdave 10y ago
  Yeah that's why I say I think it's just a misunderstood thing coming from that tract; meaning over time casual associations of certain food groups now considered "staples" of soul food became less and less understood and discussed along with other aspects of that era of time to the point where foods that were never there to begin with got tossed in, no one checked it and everyone else ran with it. Take Huey P. Newton for example, I've had plenty of frank, honest and open discussions with individuals who want to tell me everything they know about Huey P. Newton and his "radical-ness" and his "anger" and his "passion" as a Black Panther because of whatever oral tradition they've had passed down to them informing their viewpoint of the man-but it never goes very far beyond surface-level descriptions, and rarer still his philosophies or doctoral essays. Substitute Newton with James Baldwin, Clarence Thomas, MLK, heck even Dr. Cornel West. I think the same unfortunate blurring of the culinary traditions of Black Americana has happened re: Fried Chicken and Watermelon-thin, surface-level oral traditions passed down time and time again until we got where we are now "Fried chicken, watermelon and purple koolaid" are for good or ill tied into every conversation of "black foods".
  - roninb 10y ago
    Thanks for clarifying. I can see exactly what you're talking about when I hear people talk about how Malcolm X needed to die because he wanted to kill all whites as if he wasn't excommunicated for preaching peace and unity after his pilgrimage.

neutronicus 10y ago

I live in Boulder, CO, and not liking fried chicken (amongst numerous other, less-racially-charged foodstuff) is a status-signaling thing here, I think.

pdeuchler 10y ago
Not to say there isn't a huge problem with attitudes towards race in Boulder, but I've encountered people here who broke off long term relationships because a partner refused to go militant vegan and instead remained merely vegetarian, so I wouldn't place too much stock in the mind blowing food neuroses that tend to be common around these parts. And not to derail the conversation, but as a fellow Boulderite who desperately misses having a a Popeyes within 20 minutes, have you found any good fried chicken places? I have yet to find anything besides Yellowbelly and the exceptionally terrible KFC on Arapahoe.
- neutronicus 10y ago
  I googled "best fried chicken in Boulder" and literally every place I found had closed since earning the honor.
  - pdeuchler 10y ago
    Argh. That and good barbecue seem to just not exist here.

tnecniv 10y ago

I mean, it's a parallel stereotype to making fun of Italians for eating pizza. It doesn't make more sense than <ethnicity> likes <ethnic food>!