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Lunch Honoring MLK Runs into Flak

We read:

“An attempt by the Naval Academy to honor the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. this week by serving fried chicken, greens and cornbread in the midshipmen’s dining hall sparked a debate on the Annapolis campus about racial sensitivity.

On Tuesday, the academy served those items along with mashed potatoes, pie and lemonade as clips of King speeches were broadcast in King Hall, named after an academy graduate. The meal was served Tuesday because classes were not held during the holiday honoring the civil rights leader.

“The idea behind it is that it’s a traditional Southern meal,” said the spokesman, Cmdr. Ed Austin, adding, “It’s a fairly common thing throughout the fleet to do special meals on special occasions.”

But postings on GoMids.com, which includes a message board used by midshipmen and others affiliated with the academy, indicate some were offended by the attempt to honor King. “I thought we were well past these stereotypes!!” one contributor wrote.

Source

I guess that we are supposed to pretend that MLK ate chateaubriand followed by profiteroles on a regular basis.

It seems however that it wasn’t a big deal a few months back when “midshipmen were served beef fajitas, flour tortillas and Spanish rice for Hispanic Heritage Month”. Are we seeing an implicit judgement about the inferiority of fried chicken here?

Posted by John Ray

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Posted by JonJayRay on January 28, 2008 8:15 am

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Comments

One Response to “Lunch Honoring MLK Runs into Flak”

  1. Eric F on January 28th, 2008 9:58 am

    Apparently no complaints on St. Patrick’s Day, either.

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