Tonight’s dining hall menu, which includes sides like “Melba’s Collard Greens with Turkey Wings” and “Betty’s Down Home Potato Salad” as part of Dining Services’ annual “Soul Food Dinner,” has sparked debate among black student leaders, who say the event may perpetuate a stereotype of black culture.
The menu, which also features fried chicken, spare ribs, cornbread and red beans, was developed in coordination with the Nyumburu Cultural Center to include foods historically rooted in black culture as part of a Black History Month celebration, Dining Services Director Pat Higgins said.
“I think people’s automatic reaction is to be offended by it because it’s one of the biggest stereotypes about the culture — you know, fried chicken,” said senior Desarie Board, vice president of student affairs for the Black Student Union. “But when they think about it they’re like — ‘Oh, that is part of our heritage,’” she said.
The “soul food” tradition got its roots on slave plantations, where black slaves used the meager food ingredients available to create their own culinary style. More recently, however, “soul food” has come to be used by many as a blanket term, encompassing all traditional black cuisine.
This, many students said, is part of the problem.
“I guess Soul Food [Night] is trying to say that all black people eat soul food,” junior criminal justice major Janet Payne said.
Senior public health major Selam Anfune agreed, saying the event sounded “a little ridiculous.”
“I don’t know if [soul food] really defines African-American history,” she said. “Maybe they shouldn’t label it.”
However, Anfune said she thought Dining Services had good intentions. “I don’t think they’re trying to be racist,” she said. “I don’t think it’s offending anybody.”
Another reason for the negative gut reaction many students experience is that the event is coming from outside the black community, Board said.
“When we have chicken [at BSU events] no one will think twice about it because we know we like chicken,” she said. “But you don’t think of the Dining Services as black people. When someone outside of your race says that, you get automatically offended.”
Higgins said the event was planned with input from cultural groups on the campus.
“It’s not intended to be a stereotype,” she said. “We’re working with Nyumburu … Where else do I go?”
Other black students seemed more open to the idea. Sophomore journalism major Jonathan Williams compared the dinner to Sushi Night, another traditional dining hall event that will take place at the South Campus Dining Hall tomorrow night.
“Being a minority on campus you have to adjust to a lot of things,” he said. “I think it’s good for black people and all races to try something different. At Sushi Night, I got to experience sushi for the first time — it’s a good learning experience and it’s good because we get to eat some food we like and enjoy.”.
