Almost as certain as someone will dress in blackface for Halloween, someone will offer "authentic" African-American cuisine during Black History Month.
Some parents and pupils at Carondelet High School were offended after finding out the all-girls school planned to serve up fried chicken, cornbread and watermelon to celebrate Black History Month.
Are the offerings in bad faith or just bad taste? In this case, the administrators plead ignorance.
"I'd like to apologize for the announcement and any hurt this caused students, parents or community members," Principal Nancy Libby said in an apology letter sent to parents. "Please know that at no time at Carondelet do we wish to perpetrate racial stereotypes."
The idea was suggested by a group of students at the Concord school who were brainstorming ways to honor black culture. But the well-intentioned students stumbled into a complicated history. (emphasis mine)
Yes, the students at this high school (who, some may say, should have learned something about prejudice and racism by this point in their lives) included these foodstuffs in all benevolence and in a gesture of respect. How could they know the "complicated history" of
blatant racist stereotypes?
While we might excuse the apparent deep ignorance of these sheltered students (they attend a Christian school, which I interpret to mean a private institution), that does nothing to excuse the adults involved, who had to approve the menu in the first place for it even to make it to the printers. Shouldn't some adult have raised a hand and said, "We might want to think about this"?
To me, this raises a larger question about whether racism can be pardoned when committed ignorantly (of course, all racial discrimination and stereotyping originates from a place of ignorance, but I am not speaking about that). When college students host a party for MLK Day that features "'dressing' and 'acting' black" and cups made out of miniature watermelons, who can say that the partygoers intended to be racist? Is ignorance ever acceptable as absolution?
Is anyone to blame at Carondelet High School, or is it all just a big misunderstanding?