“We want to acknowledge some feedback received regarding our Juneteenth celebration,” Pezzuto said in his letter obtained by The North Carolina Beat. “Although our intent was to celebrate this nationally recognized day, some of you voiced your concerns regarding the associated food choices.”

In other words, we’re sorry you were offended.

  • AFK BRB Chocolate@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    0
    ·
    5 个月前

    The topic is a mine field for a big company. I think lots of people do eat fried chicken on Juneteenth celebrations, and red foods in general are part of the theme, but the problem is that fried chicken and watermelon are among the stereotypes that have been applied to black folks for generations.

    I’m an old white guy. If my boss gave me the responsibility of arranging food for a Juneteenth celebration, I would suggest that there’s too many ways the company could end up looking poorly, and would probably suggest a company poll/survey (which of these main dishes, which of these sides, etc.) to let the people decide. Better, since my company has a black employees association, I’d suggest that we have that group lead it and give them a budget.

    My point is that a company should have the sense to make sure they approach sensitive situations carefully.

    • RunningInRVA@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      0
      ·
      5 个月前

      Back in the mid-2000’s the cafeteria at Capital One did this but it was for a day in February to honor Black History Month. I remember getting a good laugh out of it, mostly because it was clearly done on purpose, for what reason I can’t say.

    • tburkhol@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      0
      ·
      5 个月前

      Looks to me like BBQ chicken would have been more appropriate, but I’m a white guy, so I’m going to say that I have no place picking a corporate Juneteenth menu. I’m not even sure it’s appropriate for a corp to have a Juneteenth celebration - give people the freedom to recognize it however they like, without the oversight of corporate bosses. It’s like having a corporate seder for rosh hashanah or an eid al-Fitr: guaranteed to go badly.

      If the corp does insist on having a party, they need to have members of the relevant community as prominent organizers, not some dude named Pezzuto. A white guy planning Juneteenth is going to be either condescending or cultural appropriation.

      • Y|yukichigai@lemmy.sdf.org
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        0
        ·
        5 个月前

        It’s like having a corporate seder for rosh hashanah or an eid al-Fitr: guaranteed to go badly.

        Good point. Even if they stick within the “rules” the risk of it coming off poorly is too high, same as any cultural-specific holiday.

    • growsomethinggood ()@reddthat.com
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      0
      ·
      5 个月前

      I’m not seeing fried chicken on that article though, just barbecue (which could be chicken or not, but wouldn’t be fried). Judging by the company response, someone over there is definitely being an asshole, even if there are elements that are traditional.

        • die444die@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          0
          ·
          5 个月前

          I’m not trying to be an asshole.

          Maybe you’ll believe from a sistah

          This is manufactured outrage

          Mhmm. Not trying to be an asshole indeed.

        • Cosmonauticus@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          0
          ·
          5 个月前

          The fuck it is. Black ppl aren’t a monolith with a hive mind. We don’t all agree on everything. Also there’s a huge difference between a majority white controlled mega corporation handing out Friday chicken and watermelon on juneteenth vs a private local celebration doing it. Especially since it’s not the ONLY thing they serve

          Jesus Christ the fact this even has to be explained

          • ColeSloth@discuss.tchncs.de
            link
            fedilink
            arrow-up
            0
            ·
            5 个月前

            Who the hell doesn’t agree that fried chicken is awesome, though?

            Also, I bet you anything that if you did some digging into who it was at the company that was in charge of the concessions, it was a black person.

          • ZeroCool@vger.social
            link
            fedilink
            English
            arrow-up
            0
            ·
            edit-2
            5 个月前

            Jesus Christ the fact this even has to be explained

            I don’t think it needs to be explained to anyone participating in good faith. However, the person you’re replying to is just making a poor attempt to dismiss racism.

            • ColeSloth@discuss.tchncs.de
              link
              fedilink
              arrow-up
              0
              ·
              edit-2
              5 个月前

              What are you going to say when everyone finds out it was a black person who was in charge of the food and drink choices?

              • ZeroCool@vger.social
                link
                fedilink
                English
                arrow-up
                0
                ·
                edit-2
                5 个月前

                What are you going to say when everyone finds out it was a black person who was in charge of the food and drink choices?

                I have zero interest in entertaining your hypothetical situation. Find a different mark.

    • Warl0k3@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      0
      ·
      5 个月前

      The issue is having just fried chicken and watermelon, which are tied to extremely racist stereotypes.

  • Nougat@fedia.io
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    0
    ·
    5 个月前

    If fried chicken and watermelon were the only things served, then there’s a problem. Otherwise, no.

    Unless the other things served were grape drink and Newports.

  • sunzu@kbin.run
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    0
    ·
    5 个月前

    The thing is that both are great foods but knowing how a southern white clown thinks… they meant it. Fuk 'em

    • Irremarkable@fedia.io
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      0
      ·
      5 个月前

      Right? I’ve never understood how that became a stereotype in the first place. Fried chicken is basically ubiquitous in all cultures in one form or another, including Europe. Turns out the vast majority of people like deep fried meat. Were southern elites just lying their asses off like “fried chicken? Yeah, disgusting. Totally hate it”?

      Such a dumb fucking stereotype

      • tburkhol@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        0
        ·
        5 个月前

        Chickens were often the only animals enslaved people were allowed to raise for themselves. Like many racist stereotypes, it’s more rooted in the 20th Century than slavery or early American history. There used to be some chain restaurants - notably Coon Chicken Inn - that used racist caricatures to sell their fried chicken, so it’s basically an advertising meme.

        • person420@lemmynsfw.com
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          0
          ·
          5 个月前

          Pretty much the same thing for watermelon. It was an easy to grow fruit that freed slaves used as a source of income and they caricatured it in racist media.

    • ZeroCool@vger.social
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      0
      ·
      edit-2
      5 个月前

      but knowing how a southern white clown thinks

      The weird thing is a huge percentage of people living in Charlotte aren’t even from the south. There are a lot of corporations headquartered in Charlotte, which has have led to a huge influx of transplants over the last two decades. Hell, It’s got a large enough Western NY population that there are Sabres/Bills bars and I could get regional products like white hots at the grocery store.

      Source: I was one of them until two months ago when I relocated again.

    • rustydomino@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      0
      ·
      5 个月前

      Ikr? I fucking love fried chicken and watermelon but they had to go and ruin it for the rest of us.

  • Drusas@kbin.run
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    0
    ·
    5 个月前

    Every summer cookout should have watermelon, but…

    Also, that fried chicken looks terrible.

  • mozz@mbin.grits.dev
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    0
    ·
    5 个月前

    Honestly fried chicken is some good shit maybe they

    Watermelon

    Er

    Well, yeah, that seems pretty sus

    “We want to acknowledge some feedback received regarding our Juneteenth celebration,”

    “Although our intent was to celebrate this nationally recognized day”

    Yeah they racist af

    (I don’t even know what it is that connects the wording choices so clearly with a slightly smirking man who’s secure in the knowledge that at the end of the day, what the fuck are you going to do about it, nothing that’s what, now get back to work your day was yesterday)

  • Fedizen@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    0
    ·
    edit-2
    5 个月前

    Feels racist but my work doesn’t even celebrate…This is NC though. I’d expect those are staples.

  • jordanlund@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    0
    ·
    5 个月前

    Our office didn’t even recognize it. IIRC we did the last 2 years, not this year. ¯⁠\⁠_⁠(⁠ツ⁠)⁠_⁠/⁠¯