Since race has become such a popular topic lately, I scoped this article after I just heard about it on the radio. http://www.msnbc.com/news/700719.asp Black history “sale” angers shoppers Company says fried chicken promo was not meant to offend ASSOCIATED PRESS Feb. 6, HARRISBURG, Pa. — A supermarket advertised a sale on fried chicken in honor of Black History Month, prompting the company to issue an apology after a customer complained.Giant Food Stores customer Lance Sellers brought the ad to the attention of the manager of the store in Union Deposit east of Harrisburg. The sign read: “In honor of Black History Month, we at Giant are offering a special savings on fried chicken.” “I SHOWED it to a few of the other customers ... and they all were stunned,” Sellers said. “When I approached the store manager about the problem he had the nerve to ask me why it offended me so much.” Giant Food Stores apologized on Wednesday and said the sign was not meant to be offensive. “It did happen. It was at that one store only,” said Denny Hopkins, Giant’s vice president of advertising. “We had a customer bring the sign to us and complain and we immediately took it down.” Paula Diane Harris, president of the Greater Harrisburg Branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, said the sign reinforces racist stereotypes. “Not all African-Americans eat fried chicken, greens and chitlins. We like salad, roast beef, low-fat chicken, just like everybody else,” she said. Giant is sponsoring several programs for Black History Month, including having jazz bands and soul food samples at its Kline Village Plaza and Union Deposit stores, Hopkins said. Sellers said the sign wouldn’t keep him from shopping at the store. “We laugh about it,” he said. “How could they put something like that out there?”
"Can I get a price check on outdated stereotypes in Aisle 4, price check on stereotypes in Aisle 4." Doh.
Does the black lady who always promoted Church's Fried Chicken offend you too? An honest question, I'm not trying to be rude.
so the sale was cancelled? bummer. i hope pancho's has a sale when hispanic month comes around... is there a hispanic month?
Really? Not even the slightest bid of snideness? Well, ok. No. Because I could imagine a fat white woman promoting Churches too. Or a skinny white Hispanic guy. Or a bunch of babes in bikinis chowing down on some drum sticks. But having a food that's notorious for accompanying characterizations of poor, rural blacks go on sell during black history month? That's disrespectful.
haven- Thanks for the response, and I was trying to be sincere (I like civil discussion much better to throwing words in each other's faces). I did think that the fat black lady promoting Church's was doing it because of the stereotype of black people liking fried chicken. And I for one have never connected black people liking fried chicken to being poor and rural (an implication of second class, right?). I just thought black people loved fried chicken for whatever reason. I just thought it was a stereotype with no negative meaning. That's how I've always seen it. So, I didn't see anything wrong with the black history month sale. But I can see why it would be thought of as offensive. On the same note, I could have been the one to make that commercial. And it would have been an honest mistake. If that were the case, I would have apologized too. At the same time though, I would hate it if someone would have called it racism because that was not the intent at all (and I'm not saying anyone has or hasn't, that's a separate issue). I just think it's an example of people jumping to conclusions and making more out of something than it really is. Thanks again!
Princess: You went to a high school with nearly a majority African American student body and you go to one of the largest urban universities in the country situated right in the middle of the 3rd ward and you honestly had no idea??? AND you're in the honor's college too??? Talk about not paying attention. Besides, how can you not know the woman in the commericals? Esther from Sanford and Son? To quote Fred, "I could put your face in dough and make me some gorilla cookies."
Ok, I wasn't sure if you were being facetious or not. Honestly couldn't tell. Here's something sad: poor, rural blacks once had the best diet of any social group. They couldn't afford too much beef, so they ate a great deal of fowl and healthy vegetables that they could grow on their own. They also ate wheat bread instead of white, since that was all they could afford. Now, the same people have one of the worst diets, demographic wise. Too much fried stuff...
It was really stupid of the store manager, but I don't consider it a big deal. Not that promoting stereotypes is a good thing, but even the guy that brought it up to the manager eventually got a chuckle out of it. An outdated steroetyped, yes, showing the store manager as being a completely ignorant buffoon, yes, mean spirited or meant to discriminate against African Americans customers or workers, probably not.
How outdated is that stereotype? Anyone here work for Bojangles, Church's or KFC? When my youngest was born in October 2001, there was a large black family sharing the waiting room with my in-laws and chowing down on fried chicken. That room smelled like fried chicken for hours afterward. I guess the store manager should have had a sale on bagels and lox or bottled water maybe...
...so, if they had been chowing down on Big Macs, I guess we have a new stereotype? Jeez, people...it doesn't mean the person is deeply racist. It's just a sad testimony to the fact that stupid, outdated stereotypes are still very prevalent in people outside the ethnic group, even today. Which is more than pathetic enough in itself.
Jeff-yes, there was a near majority of African-Americans at my school. And yes, UH is probably one of the most diverse campuses in the country. And yes, I am in the Honors College and I am quite intelligent (despite what you amy think). Just because I didn't know the stereotype doesn't mean anything. And no, I didn't watch Sanford & Son. When was that on anyway? I knew the stereotype was there, but not that it meant all black people were poor and ate fried chicken. And I don't know that most young people today associate it with that. The fact that maybe a smart white person didn't think anything of the ad except that black people stereotypically like fried chicken says something. Not all people see things so negatively. It's just my opinion. It never would have crossed my mind that it was poking fun at black people or bringing up part of an ugly history. I'm trying to be honest and understanding here. It seems no matter what I do though, it isn't good enough for you.
Ya hear that Elizabeth? I'm comin' to join ya honey... with a white Honors student in one hand and a drumstick in the other!
Okay, you're the one continuing the stereotype in a poor sense now, not me. I wasn't born until '81. And I never caught the show in reruns. But glad you think it's funny. Being smart has nothing to do with watching TV or knowing TV trivia. If you want to make fun of me, do it because I didn't know the connotations of that stereotype, not that I missed a TV show.
I guess I'm just trying to figure out how an obviously intellegent person could be so naive to things that are happening all around her. Honestly, I don't think you are an awful person or anything. I just think that you've gotten awfully chatty and opinionated since arriving here only recently. I understand that you want to assert your opinion and that's fine. But, for as honest as you are, you also seem to be unwilling to see the possibilities. You tell me and anyone else who would listen in another thread that your opinion about what is racist is right and if no one else can see that, it is a shame. If you want to be opinionated, that's fine. Just don't expect to have an easy time of it if some of us disagree. And this isn't to say I think less of you personally. I like Lynus. He seemed like a good guy so I can only assume he is a good judge of character which makes you ok by me. But, you'll find that the opinions of people in this forum vary widely and you'll have to either open your mind a bit or learn to have plenty of ammo to back yourself up if you want to speak your mind and not get your head cut off for it. My point in this thread is that you SEEM extremely naive in your opinions about the world. You claim to have quite a lot of knowledge about racism (personal experience in fact), yet you don't even understand basic stereotypes. You can't understand why people get bent out of shape over comments that belittle them and their race, yet you obviously get very frustrated when someone tells you women haven't had it that tough because you feel the oppressive nature of being a woman in a male-dominated society. It is easy to criticize when you haven't been in the situation, but please don't give us reasons why it shouldn't matter when you don't even really know why it should matter in the first place. I guarantee you that I (and many others) will call you on it if you do. It is the nature of posting here.
