A university president held a dinner for black students — and set the table with cotton stalks...

[HarryPotterFan]

In today's news of stupid racists, from The Washington Post:

A university president held a dinner for black students — and set the table with cotton stalks and collard greens

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/grade-point/wp/2017/09/19/a-university-president-held-a-dinner-for-black-students-and-set-the-table-with-cotton-stalks-and-collard-greens/?tid=sm_fb&utm_term=.e9380db0e265

I can't figure out how to get a quote box on my phone, but TL;DR: The president of Lipscomb University in Tennessee invited black students to his home for dinner. A student took to instagram to share an image of table centerpieces: COTTON STALKS. They were served mac n' cheese, collard greens, and corn bread, which the student described as "black meals." When questioned, the president described the decorations as "fall-ish," though he later issued an apology when shit hit the fan. The student also states that there is no advocate for black students on campus. She also states that the resident served tacos to Latino students the prior evening.

[unsafetydancer]

This guy sounds like my totally 100% non racist ex co worker who asked our new (black) colleague if he "lived in a proper house or just a tent where he came from". Why do people have to be such idiots.

Also no idea what a collard green is.

[WhatWouldJohnCrichtonDo?]

3 hours ago, unsafetydancer said:

Also no idea what a collard green is.

Wikipedia isn't the greatest source, but here's what it has to say:

Spoiler

In my (in)experience, collard greens are definitely a Southern dish. If the idiot "host" of this dinner had added watermelon, fried chicken, and chitlins, he could have hit a few more stereotypes on his racist bingo card.

[onekidanddone]

22 hours ago, unsafetydancer said:

This guy sounds like my totally 100% non racist ex co worker who asked our new (black) colleague if he "lived in a proper house or just a tent where he came from". Why do people have to be such idiots.

Also no idea what a collard green is.

No, I don't believe you. Well yes I do, I just, I'm .....errr  ummmm  .oh never mind I got nothing. Ignorance can be fixed, ass hat racist can't.

[unsafetydancer]

To clarify, when I said 100% not racist I was being sarcastic.

[RosyDaisy]

Lipscomb is racist to it's core. No surprise seeing how it's affiliated with the Churches of Christ. I seem to remember an incident where a guest speaker representing Black Lives Matter was vilified as promoting violence.

Since when are watermelon and fried chicken racist things? I don't understand?

[samurai_sarah]

28 minutes ago, onekidanddone said:

No, I don't believe you. Well yes I do, I just, I'm .....errr  ummmm  .oh never mind I got nothing. Ignorance can be fixed, ass hat racist can't.

You may not believe, but I do. @unsafetydancer isn't a racist, she was pointing out the stupidity of it all.

And yes, I am hand-slapping. Because I'm a person of colour, and I need people like you to understand me. I need you to be on my side.

[unsafetydancer]

@samurai_sarah Yes I was pretty much pointing out how bloody stupid racism is. I don't get it, co worker I mentioned had all these pre conceived ideas about people who weren't like him ( read male, white, UK native) it just gave me a headache.

To be honest, most people where I live are OK so maybe I'm just not as used to utterly horrible opinions as some folks are. My town is a university town and most people seem to get on grand with each other wherever they are from or whatever other "differences" we have so i guess i just get used to people not being dicks and it makes me sad when people are.

[dairyfreelife]

30 minutes ago, RosyDaisy said:

Lipscomb is racist to it's core. No surprise seeing how it's affiliated with the Churches of Christ. I seem to remember an incident where a guest speaker representing Black Lives Matter was vilified as promoting violence.

Since when are watermelon and fried chicken racist things? I don't understand?

On their own, no. But historical it's a stereotype of black people. Mac and cheese, cornbread and collard greens are considered southern "soul food". Not as racist as could have been. Was it ignorant? Hell yes. 

@unsafetydancer Collard greens are a green leafy vegetable. It is usually served as a steamed dish with vinegar and sometimes spices. Source: born and raised in southern Appalachia and often had said dish. Also, not surprised someone said that. People's ignorance does not surprise me anymore. 

[onekidanddone]

49 minutes ago, samurai_sarah said:

You may not believe, but I do. @unsafetydancer isn't a racist, she was pointing out the stupidity of it all.

And yes, I am hand-slapping. Because I'm a person of colour, and I need people like you to understand me. I need you to be on my side.

Actually I do believe it completely. My choice of words were not the best because tone of voice does not work on the internet.  Sometimes my snark has no place and is offensive, and this was one of them.

[RosyDaisy]

I was speaking of fried chicken and watermelon specifically not the rest of the food discussed. Just to clarify, what this university president did was flat out racist. He's half-assed attempt of an apology proves it.

[WhatWouldJohnCrichtonDo?]

@RosyDaisy, I'm the one who brought up fried chicken and watermelon. I think they came to mind as foods which have sometimes been stereotyped as "black people foods" by racists because of an awful assault on a black teenager in my state. It came out in court that the young man's teammates and coaches were "joking" with him  (bullshit, they were racially harassing him) for weeks or more before the assault about liking fried chicken, watermelon, and one other food that I've forgotten.

I don't know how common that particular racist stereotype is, so maybe I shouldn't have mentioned it. I was trying to express my disgust over the actions of this university president, but I seem to have missed the mark. Sorry. I hope I didn't offend anyone.

[RosyDaisy]

Ok, I understand now. I wasn't offended, just confused.

[purple_summer]

On 9/28/2017 at 1:48 AM, WhatWouldJohnCrichtonDo? said:

@RosyDaisy, I'm the one who brought up fried chicken and watermelon. I think they came to mind as foods which have sometimes been stereotyped as "black people foods" by racists because of an awful assault on a black teenager in my state. It came out in court that the young man's teammates and coaches were "joking" with him  (bullshit, they were racially harassing him) for weeks or more before the assault about liking fried chicken, watermelon, and one other food that I've forgotten.

I don't know how common that particular racist stereotype is, so maybe I shouldn't have mentioned it. I was trying to express my disgust over the actions of this university president, but I seem to have missed the mark. Sorry. I hope I didn't offend anyone.

As the resident black historian, I'll elaborate (extremely briefly). 

https://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2014/12/how-watermelons-became-a-racist-trope/383529/ 

Quote

But the stereotype that African Americans are excessively fond of watermelon emerged for a specific historical reason and served a specific political purpose. The trope came into full force when slaves won their emancipation during the Civil War. Free black people grew, ate, and sold watermelons, and in doing so made the fruit a symbol of their freedom. Southern whites, threatened by blacks’ newfound freedom, responded by making the fruit a symbol of black people’s perceived uncleanliness, laziness, childishness, and unwanted public presence. This racist trope then exploded in American popular culture, becoming so pervasive that its historical origin became obscure. Few Americans in 1900 would’ve guessed the stereotype was less than half a century old.

 

And then we got bullshit like this 

Spoiler

 

 

 

You get the idea. 

ETA it's an extremely pervasive stereotype to the point where people have been shocked when I say I don't like watermelon. 

[RosyDaisy]

I guess that means I'm a racists for giving my black neighbors (and everyone else in the neighborhood) watermelons (which they like) when my garden produced more than my family could eat. And here I thought I was just being nice by sharing.

[purple_summer]

13 hours ago, RosyDaisy said:

I guess that means I'm a racists for giving my black neighbors (and everyone else in the neighborhood) watermelons (which they like) when my garden produced more than my family could eat. And here I thought I was just being nice by sharing.

Uhhh it's a little more nuanced than that...

[Grimalkin]

15 hours ago, RosyDaisy said:

I guess that means I'm a racists for giving my black neighbors (and everyone else in the neighborhood) watermelons (which they like) when my garden produced more than my family could eat. And here I thought I was just being nice by sharing.

      Probably not. But I think it's good to know the history behind things. 

        I have heard the watermelon references but did not know the history behind it.

       @unsafetydancer collard greens can usually be found where spinach and Kale are sold in most grocery stores. While it's mostly associated with soul food, I think it is way under appreciated. It's my go to cooking green. Washed and chopped and sautéed with garlic and onions with crushed red pepper makes it delicious. I sometimes add chopped walnuts and a can of rinsed and drained cannelloni beans to it for a veggie meal. Way yummier than kale. And super healthy to boot.

[purple_summer]

4 hours ago, Grimalkin said:

   @unsafetydancer collard greens can usually be found where spinach and Kale are sold in most grocery stores. While it's mostly associated with soul food, I think it is way under appreciated. It's my go to cooking green. Washed and chopped and sautéed with garlic and onions with crushed red pepper makes it delicious. I sometimes add chopped walnuts and a can of rinsed and drained cannelloni beans to it for a veggie meal. Way yummier than kale. And super healthy to boot.

Honestly I don't want more people to find out about collards. It's bad enough the kale craze sent prices through the roof, let me have my collards and mustard greens in peace!!!

[PopRox]

On 9/20/2017 at 7:36 PM, unsafetydancer said:

This guy sounds like my totally 100% non racist ex co worker who asked our new (black) colleague if he "lived in a proper house or just a tent where he came from". Why do people have to be such idiots.

Also no idea what a collard green is.

I never heard of them, either, until I moved to Texas. I don't like them as much as kale (kaaaaaaale!), but they're still pretty good (and easy to grow in containers). If you ever have a hankering for a good soup/stew in the winter, I highly recommend this (Mr. Rox likes his collards fried in pork fat---uh, no thanks, not for me).

Mr. Rox also grew up with collard greens/cornbread/black-eyed peas served together-- but in the part of the U.S. south where he grew up, that was your traditional "good luck meal" on New Year's Day.

TL;DR: This president is an asshole, and the stew I linked to above is f**king delicious.