I grew up in the
South. Germantown, Tennessee to be
exact. And never in my life have I met
anyone, who is a meat-eater, decline fried chicken. From the days of frying it in a
slave-cabin-like skillet in thick, white Crisco to using vegetable oil, the
devouring and digestion of fried chicken has been a staple of American society
since I can remember, particularly in the South—by Black and white Americans.
About twenty years ago, my father was diagnosed with High Blood Pressure and we
no longer had fried foods for dinner. I
adopted that diet and probably only eat fried foods four or five times a
month. The rest of my dietary palate is
saturated with grilled foods. I mean,
seriously, I literally grill four or five times a week. But, I say this because
I do not understand how eating fried chicken can be connoted with Blackness or
be deemed a stereotype that maintains any validity. As a lecturer, writer, and college professor,
I have the opportunity to travel several times a year, all over the U.S.A., and
whether I’m in the Northeastern, Southern, West, or Midwest regions, I always
see several chicken shacks, restaurants, or diners that all serve (and often
times openly promote on their windows or signs) fried chicken.
So, when I woke up this
morning and viewed ESPN’s Sportscenter and read the remarks of PGA golfer
Sergio Garcia, who has had a long-standing feud with golf God, and arguably the
greatest golfer of all time, Tiger Woods, quip, after being asked would he have
Tiger over for dinner during a tournament next week, while at the European Tour’s
gala players’ awards in London, England, “We will have him round every
night. We will serve fried chicken”, I
not only found it offensive, but I found it extremely lame, unfounded, and
assimilatory at best. Clearly, Sergio riffed his pathetic-at-best attempt at
humor, and internalized hatred for Blacks, or at least the ones who dare play
and excel at the gentleman’s game of golf, from golf legend Fuzzy Zeller’s book
of racist remarks who, during the 1997 Masters, stated in reference to Woods’
winning of the tournament, “So, you know what you guys do when he gets in here?
You pat him on the back and say congratulations and enjoy it and tell him not
to serve fried chicken next year. Got
it?...or collard greens or whatever the hell they serve.”
Stereotypes,
particularly those of an ethno-specific origin, have existed for ages, and I often
times laugh at them even when aimed at Black people, but this particular jibe
from Sergio Garcia made me think a bit more.
Who is Sergio trying to impress?
Why would he mention fried chicken when attempting to belittle Tiger
Woods? Tiger is Black and Asian, and
even a little ‘white’, correct? Didn’t
he once refer to himself as a Caublasian? (Funny how he seemed to create his
own ethnic hierarchy within the name—Caucasian, Black, and ‘then’ Asian, but I
digress) What Sergio and all the non-Black
people of the world need to know about the American Negro is that the frying of
the chicken derived out of necessity. For
the most part, during American slavery, the only livestock the African American
was ‘allowed’ to raise was the chicken.
True, there may be a pig or a hog here or there, but the chicken, as we
all know, breeds in abundance and can be devoured from the rooter to the
tooter. As far as the frying of the
poultry, I can only assume that it was a quick and easy way to prepare the main
course of a more than likely paltry meal, and the grease, along with the
flouring of the bird, made the chicken stick to one’s bones and increased the
caloric intake due to the meat being fried in lard or grease, and that was needed considering the laborious
activities that the slave had to endure during those twelve to fourteen hour
work days. Oh, and it tasted great!
But,
I feel that Garcia is trying to ingratiate himself to a particular audience
which is ironic seeming that he’s already been accepted by mainstream white PGA
followers and advertisers. It is
reported that he has made over 43 million dollars during his time on the PGA
tour, received over 16 million dollars in endorsements last year alone, mainly TaylorMade
Adidas, and has been on the tour since 1999, so I am not sure if this
particular distasteful ‘joke’ of his was an attempt to assimilate to the
culture of American golf. It is apparent
by his name and accent that he is of the Spanish persuasion, though Spain is a
European country, and his physical aesthetics would place him in the vague
category of ‘white’, but his use of the fried chicken remark leads me to
believe that his cultural and ethnic insecurities prompted him to further prove
himself to the powers that be or that he ‘belongs’ with the powers that be—and in
the world of golf, those powers are Anglican whites.
The
tone of the media seems to be dismissing this blatant racist joke from a professional
and international athlete as if we should just let it blow over or “move on
from this” as was suggested by the PGA.
Why should we, as Black and non-Black people, just “move on”? In the past month alone, Black scholars,
particularly Dr. Boyce Watkins, launched campaigns against and boycotts of Lil’ Wayne because of his insensitive, sexist,
and derogatory lyrics referencing the lynching of Emmitt Till and Tyler the
Creator’s alleged stereotypical portrayal of Black Americans in a commercial
for Mountain Dew to which both individuals subsequently lost their endorsements
from PepsiCo/Mountain Dew. Should we
give Sergio Garcia a pass? Why, because
he aesthetically resembles the ethnic group that resides atop America’s
socioeconomic hierarchical structure?
Nope. Adidas, we have a
problem. Follow suit and distance
yourself from anyone who would utter such foolishness in a public forum. Swing that golf club, win, smile on a commercial,
and say the politically correct things or shut up.
Lastly,
research your ethnic jokes before you make one.
Fried chicken actually originated in Scotland and England. Fritters have been around for hundreds of
years and the Scotts fried chicken and actually brought that practice to the
U.S. South in the 18th century.
For that matter, fried chicken was a major staple in West African
cuisine, and we all know that more than 80% of the African slaves were bought
or kidnapped from the west coast of the African continent so I imagine he is
somewhat correct in his comprehension of History and the nuances and the
practices derived thereof. Yet, like I
stated above, Sergio’s joke is unwarranted.
If there is some negative connotation to one’s diet consisting of or
including fried chicken, the Scottish should be more offended than the Negro,
Mr. Garcia. I suggest he stick to playing
golf because History is not something he seems to be familiar with.
Gee Joyner
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