Questlove (drummer for The Roots, Jimmy Fallon's band) not amused by NBC 's Black History Lunch Menu

[Amerigo Vespucci]

Questlove Not Amused by NBC 's "Black History" Lunch Menu

http://mog.com/MOG_News/blog/1748237



Questlove, who works in the NBC building as a member of the Jimmy Fallon show, just tweeted the lunch menu in honor of black history month, which included fried chicken, collared greens and cornbread. Needless to say, The Roots drummer/producer was perplexed.

Aside from the link to the photo, all Questo had to say was "Hmm ?" implying that he might not have been the biggest fan of the meal selection, well intentioned as it may have been.

[frazzled]

1. What, no watermelon? /nt

[buff2]

2. Sounds like a delicious meal to me!

There's nothing on there that I don't eat.Mmmmm.... :9

[timeforpeace]

3. All this from "hmm"?

[omega minimo]

4. "White rice/Black eyed peas"

:eyes:

[WolverineDG]

23. so, tell us, what do you serve your black eyed peas with?

:eyes:

dg

[omega minimo]

24. Who needs its spelled out that rice is white?

[Liquorice]

26. Well there is brown rice, so maybe that's why they spelled it out? nt

[omega minimo]

27. Maybe it's not.

[EOTE]

30. Yeah, it's most likely the black chef's attempt to take a stab at white people.

No wait, I mean black people. Or maybe she was just trying to insult rice. You know, sometimes a cigar is just a cigar.

[omega minimo]

31. WHEN does ANYONE EVER specify "White Rice"? Honestly.

[EOTE]

33. Are you for real?

Well, restaurants for one specify "white rice". Honestly. Also, people attempting to describe their dishes will specify "white rice", because, you know, there's more than just one type of rice out there. But I'm rather interested in hearing what you think this chef's intentions were? Was specifying "white rice" supposed to be a slur against whites? Blacks maybe? I'm quite befuddled.

Edited to add: Would you have preferred if the chef simply referred to the Black Eyed Peas simply as "Eyed Peas"? It seems to me you're suggesting something wrong with "White rice/Black eyed peas." You seem to be suggesting now that you don't think it was racist. Well, if you didn't think it was racist, why on earth would you make that post complete with your "rolling eyes" emoticon?

[omega minimo]

36. Rice and Black Eyed Peas is sufficient.

[EOTE]

42. Yes, because god forbid people know what kind of rice they're getting.

I'm guessing you'd also suggest labeling diet coke as simply coke because the word diet is offensive to overweight people? I assure you that some things really don't need any looking into and are exactly as they seem.

[omega minimo]

43. You need a hobby

[EOTE]

46. You need to learn some common sense.

And learning to admit when you're dead wrong wouldn't hurt a lick either.

[omega minimo]

47. Your threats are as hollow as your logic

:thumbsdown:

[apocalypsehow]

53. +1. n/t.

[TCJ70]

45. When ordering at a chinese restaurant

White rice/Fried rice

[Hosnon]

58. Honestly? The overwhelming majority of the time. nt.

[WolverineDG]

29. So what's racist about saying "white rice" as opposed to "brown rice"

or "red beans & rice?"

:eyes:

dg

[omega minimo]

32. Who said it was "racist"?

[WolverineDG]

37. you did

:eyes:

dg

[omega minimo]

38. No. I didn't

[MyNameGoesHere]

40. haha typical american knowledge of rice

you do know there are almost 50,000 varieties of rice yes?

[omega minimo]

44. Yes I'm sure the NBC cafeteria serves at least 49,999 of them

:freak:

[MyNameGoesHere]

48. no probably just two

BROWN OR WHITE RICE. But i am guessing you didn't know they were not a white.

[omega minimo]

51. How stupid do you want to make this?

"Rice and Black Eyed Peas" is sufficient.

[MyNameGoesHere]

55. Sufficient for you

as with most one dimensional consumers of rice. There is only white. I bet you do not even realize that there are maybe 4 different varieties in that mega mart you shop. So I can get much more stupid and I have no doubt you can too.

[omega minimo]

56. You don't know who or what you are talking about.

[MyNameGoesHere]

57. For once we agree. n/t

[Bluebear]

5. The drink offered should be water, from a separate drinking fountatin.

That would be a true reminder of the historically disgraceful treatment of people of color in our nation.

Outside of that, it reminds me of the school lunch that Denver planned for MLK day:

http://www.10news.com/education/22245407/detail.html

Some were put off, some people said it was a celebration of black American food.

[Mixopterus]

6. Maybe he meant "Mmmmm"?

I'll be honest, that sounds delicious.

I guess they were trying to emulate southern African American cooking, which isn't innately racist or offensive. If they served matzo ball soup/latkes, pierogies, and some chopped liver with your choice of berliners, hammentash, or macaroons during, I dunno, Holocaust Awareness week I wouldn't be offended. For one, I love all of those things, and two, it is Ashkenazi Jewish food and is therefore appropriate.

[msongs]

7. thank gosh no restaurants run by african americans ever sell those things eh? nt

[guitar man]

11. There's a soul food cafe right down the street

from my office and I have a hard time staying out of there. The fried catfish is the best I've ever had and the collard greens are out of this world :wow:

[Bluebear]

18. Different food of all nations and cultures is what I miss where I live.

Meat and potatoes, fish. That's it :(

[guitar man]

19. Oh man that would suck

Within a mile in any direction of my office there is Thai , Vietnamese, authentic Mexican, Greek , Indian ... You name it and it's somewhere close. I'm spoiled :P

[fujiyama]

8. The food sounds good

but seriously, I'm surprised they don't have a side of watermelon and grape soda...

[Berry Cool]

9. Turns out, the chef who prepared the menu is black.

Hmm. Maybe not such an open-and-shut case of clueless white person in charge as some assumed.

[timeforpeace]

10. Oh shoot, there was some red-hot righteous indignation goin here.

[WolverineDG]

21. Oh no, I just got told that she has "internalized racism"

or some stupid shit like that & because she has internalized racism, she is perpetuating it by serving fried chicken during Black History Month.

dg

[BakedAtAMileHigh]

50. oh no! Middleclass liberal guilt override! Danger! Danger!

Too fricking funny.

[Monk06]

12. That's just standard soulfood. And the collard greens and cornbread are very healthy

[Bluebear]

20. It's "collared" greens here

I am envisioning little polo shirts on the greenery :)

[yurbud]

35. there's a soul food restaurant that's pretty famous here in LA and that would fit into the menu

maybe the critic isn't aware that the stereotype is based on real food people eat in the South.

[Lisa0825]

13. dup....

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=7642193&mesg_id=7642193

I think it is ridiculous. I'm in Texas and soul food done well is AWESOME.

[Bluebear]

17. this one was first :)

[LeftyAndProud60]

14. The Fried Chicken is kinda offensive. We do eat smothered steak or smothered chicken.

And where is the Mac and Cheese?

[Lisa0825]

15. Well, my in-laws and my friends all eat fried chicken too,

and they don't do it in private, so I doubt they find it offensive.

Got some red soda too? :-)

[LeftyAndProud60]

16. Oh, I would've ate it too, And for 7.50? Can't beat that. As a Roots fan, I can see why Q would be a

lil taken by it.

[cbdo2007]

22. He's really going to be pissed about the Irish Festival then - all they serve

is corned beef and cabbage!!!

[LostInAnomie]

25. Off topic, but all that for $7.50 is a hell of a deal.

Damn, maybe I need to get a job at NBC.

[name not needed]

28. You'll probably get fired after 7 months, but it's worth a shot.

[msanthrope]

34. Yeah, but the compensation package looks pretty sweet. n/t

[Johonny]

39. I long suspected Jimmy Fallon tends to lead to lack of amusement

[Swamp Rat]

41. I watched his show once.

Is it supposed to be a comedy show? I ask because nothing I saw or heard was funny. :shrug:

[BakedAtAMileHigh]

49. Food is Not Racist

People are racist. Parents here in CO got upset when DPS served fried chicken for MLK day but none of those clueless idiots understood that fried chicken was Dr. King's favorite meal. There is nothing racist about this menu. Period.

What's that line about "sound and fury, signifying nothing..."? As for this drummer dude, who gives two farts what he thinks? His opinion is not more important because he is on television or is in a band, you know...but there are a lot of celebrity/hero worshipers around this site, so I'm not that surprised I guess.

[omega minimo]

52. His opinion is important because he's AFrican American. Are you?

Are you just jumping in here to make DU look even more clueless about why this opinion matters and is worth some consideration?

Who the fuck are you calling "clueless idiots"?

[apocalypsehow]

54. The chef who prepared the menu is an African-American woman. Therefore, I'd say that last line of

your reply is something you should own, since it describes your take on this matter quite well.