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Jedi Guy

(3,171 posts)
Thu Feb 22, 2018, 10:45 PM Feb 2018

University serves Kool-Aid and watermelon water for Black History Month

Source: CNN

When Kayla Eubanks saw a sign for a Black History Month special menu in a New York University dining hall on Tuesday, she was interested to see what they were serving.

"I figured it would be some type of southern cuisine," the NYU student told CNN.

But she was stunned to see the full menu: ribs, collard greens, cornbread, smashed yams, mac and cheese and two beverages, red Kool-Aid and watermelon-flavored water.

Eubanks said she asked one of the cafeteria managers about it and was told, '"Yeah, it's Black History Month."

Read more: https://www.cnn.com/2018/02/22/us/nyu-kool-aid-watermelon-menu-black-history-month-trnd/index.html



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University serves Kool-Aid and watermelon water for Black History Month (Original Post) Jedi Guy Feb 2018 OP
Not polically correct but sounds like some dam good grub to me. I like doc03 Feb 2018 #1
Saw a story earlier, only on the beverages. Not the food which sounds ok. appalachiablue Feb 2018 #2
Never heard of watermellon water either nt doc03 Feb 2018 #3
It's been real popular in colleges and hotel lobbies Yupster Feb 2018 #9
In California in cities all over the state gabeana Feb 2018 #21
It's my favorite agua fresca Retrograde Feb 2018 #46
Its actually a very foo foo organic trendy thing RhodeIslandOne Feb 2018 #24
I had it when I went to Rio some years back... Blue_Tires Feb 2018 #35
I've seen it in doctors' offices and hospital cafeterias, even Ilsa Feb 2018 #36
Mint juleps, if you ask me.... pangaia Feb 2018 #4
Yes, Mint Juleps, maybe Bourbon & branchwater, Hurricanes, Rum Punch! appalachiablue Feb 2018 #6
I thought you wrote 2 liter ones. !!! pangaia Feb 2018 #8
Not until noon. But yes, 2 litres. 'It's tradition.' Sniff... appalachiablue Feb 2018 #13
Definitely not a Southern thing... moose65 Feb 2018 #27
Ugh... sakabatou Feb 2018 #5
I seriously care and would not wish to offend anyone California_Republic Feb 2018 #7
Its the kool-aid and watermelon water angrychair Feb 2018 #11
I didn't realize kool-aid was associated treestar Feb 2018 #33
Not sure how it started to be honest angrychair Feb 2018 #37
Same. Koop-aid was inexpensive soda pop California_Republic Feb 2018 #38
Soda treestar Feb 2018 #40
Good point. Ask the Black History professors to decide? treestar Feb 2018 #34
don't start taking bug juice of the menu nt d_r Feb 2018 #10
Forgot to ask, did they have a Minstrel Show too, for entertainment? appalachiablue Feb 2018 #12
If they did have a Minstrel Show, it would have to be white folk in blackface. n/t Stonepounder Feb 2018 #16
Like Al Jolson, the Jazz Singer and other white performers in the 1920s, 30s. appalachiablue Feb 2018 #18
Hmm, instead of that, how about htuttle Feb 2018 #14
I was born and raised in the south jb5150 Feb 2018 #22
What then, is the relevant purpose of the kool-aid? LanternWaste Feb 2018 #30
I honestly don't know. Sweet and unsweet tea would have made far more sense. moriah Feb 2018 #45
Just as long as I don't have to smell the greens being cooked. moriah Feb 2018 #43
Is there any sensible choice on the drinks though? IronLionZion Feb 2018 #15
Iced tea, sweet and unsweet unc70 Feb 2018 #17
I'll second that Bayard Feb 2018 #20
They probably could have done without the watermelon reference jmowreader Feb 2018 #19
Its red drink thank you much RhodeIslandOne Feb 2018 #23
why would the food necessarily be from the south? FLSurfer Feb 2018 #25
There is food identified as treestar Feb 2018 #41
This sort of crap seems to happen every year. Some people are just not educable. nt tblue37 Feb 2018 #26
What!? No fried chicken!? NT Adrahil Feb 2018 #28
That was for President's Day. JustABozoOnThisBus Feb 2018 #32
Is there a negative stereotype associated with Kool-Aid? Shrek Feb 2018 #29
Don't know if Kool-Aid relates to black history, but ... JustABozoOnThisBus Feb 2018 #31
Yes, that's where I go treestar Feb 2018 #42
It's sad that good food has to have racist connotations FrodosNewPet Feb 2018 #39
Yankees apparently don't know what "sweet tea" is, even at NYU. moriah Feb 2018 #44
The two emplyees that put the menu together were fired. Dr. Strange Feb 2018 #47

doc03

(35,148 posts)
1. Not polically correct but sounds like some dam good grub to me. I like
Thu Feb 22, 2018, 11:00 PM
Feb 2018

Cracker Barral because they have collard greens, catfish and fried okra.

appalachiablue

(41,053 posts)
2. Saw a story earlier, only on the beverages. Not the food which sounds ok.
Thu Feb 22, 2018, 11:06 PM
Feb 2018

As a southern thang, why not Lemonade & good old Sweet Iced Tea? Never heard of watermelon water. Weird, funky.

Yupster

(14,308 posts)
9. It's been real popular in colleges and hotel lobbies
Thu Feb 22, 2018, 11:34 PM
Feb 2018

Generally a big office type water cooler with actual melon balls skewered and placed in the cooler. Also cantaloupe is popular and strawberries.

It's very refreshing and of course low cal.

Surprised it had anything to do with Black history month. Our local college has two coolers of the stuff every day.

gabeana

(3,166 posts)
21. In California in cities all over the state
Fri Feb 23, 2018, 01:40 AM
Feb 2018

some Mexican restaurants serve it, it is quite refreshing drink on a hot day

Retrograde

(10,070 posts)
46. It's my favorite agua fresca
Sat Feb 24, 2018, 01:31 PM
Feb 2018

My measure of a good Mexican restaurant is whether it has aguas frescas - fruit juices usually cut with water. Watermelon is indeed a common one - but where one gets decent watermelons in February I don't know.

 

RhodeIslandOne

(5,042 posts)
24. Its actually a very foo foo organic trendy thing
Fri Feb 23, 2018, 03:40 AM
Feb 2018

Like coconut water..... both are highly overrated.

Blue_Tires

(55,445 posts)
35. I had it when I went to Rio some years back...
Fri Feb 23, 2018, 03:36 PM
Feb 2018

and at the time I wondered why nobody was offering it in the U.S.... It's the nectar of the gods!

Ilsa

(61,675 posts)
36. I've seen it in doctors' offices and hospital cafeterias, even
Fri Feb 23, 2018, 04:31 PM
Feb 2018

in months that are not BHM.

Cucumber water and strawberries water are also popular, except some people are allergic to strawberries.

appalachiablue

(41,053 posts)
6. Yes, Mint Juleps, maybe Bourbon & branchwater, Hurricanes, Rum Punch!
Thu Feb 22, 2018, 11:22 PM
Feb 2018

In New Orleans at a historic property we visited, before the (daytime) tour began the guides asked us if we'd like a Mint Julep. My husband thought that was fantastic, so we had 2 lite ones!

My field is historic preservation and museum interpretation, but I'd never seen that! It wouldn't fly where I was employed, nope.

appalachiablue

(41,053 posts)
13. Not until noon. But yes, 2 litres. 'It's tradition.' Sniff...
Thu Feb 22, 2018, 11:51 PM
Feb 2018


Party time in the Latin Quarter, Antoine's one of my favs, Jackson Sq. jazz, Commodore's for Sunday Brunch, yowee!!

Laissez les Bontemps roulez!!

moose65

(3,164 posts)
27. Definitely not a Southern thing...
Fri Feb 23, 2018, 09:36 AM
Feb 2018

I think watermelon water is some kind of trendy thing right now, but it's not a Southern thing, really. Sounds like it's what a New York university would THINK is "Southern"!

The menu has one little nitpick that's one of my pet peeves: smashed "yams." In America, we hardly ever eat true yams - it's SWEET POTATOES, for crying out loud! They are NOT the same thing!!

angrychair

(8,593 posts)
11. Its the kool-aid and watermelon water
Thu Feb 22, 2018, 11:42 PM
Feb 2018

It was unequivocally a baiting attempt with a racial stereotype or just cringe-worthy ignorance of tone-deaf racism.

I’m white and I was raised in the South and this type of racist stereotyping used to be very common. It’s the “watermelon and fried chicken” bullshit. In the context of Black History Month it’s hard not to take it as a racist jab.


Example:
Inviting your black co-worker to a family cookout in which you are serving fried chicken and watermelon = ok

Telling you black co-worker you made it for them = racist

treestar

(82,383 posts)
33. I didn't realize kool-aid was associated
Fri Feb 23, 2018, 03:28 PM
Feb 2018

We had it as kids in a mid-Atlantic State. And we were white. I didn't think of it as associated to black stereotypes, like watermelon is.

Now it just makes me think of Jim Jones.

angrychair

(8,593 posts)
37. Not sure how it started to be honest
Fri Feb 23, 2018, 05:23 PM
Feb 2018

I live on the west coast now but spent many years in the south, from Louisiana to Virginia and everywhere in between.
I’ve heard it off and on throughout my life but mainly in the context of a jab at being poor but somewhere along the line it got tied to people of color.
It is interesting how these things come up but in the end it’s just racism.

treestar

(82,383 posts)
40. Soda
Sat Feb 24, 2018, 11:18 AM
Feb 2018

I think my mother had us drink kool-aid because we could not have soda every day. Soda was a big treat. Though kool-aid surely did not have any less sugar. Kids could make it themselves since it was simple. It made two quarts per packet and you added the water and one cup of sugar! Later, they removed the need to add the sugar - guess it was already in the mix.

My parents were of an age where a soda was a treat. When I was a teen, they still came in bottles and you could look at the bottom of the bottles to see where they had been produced, and compete with others for whose bottle came from the farthest away. I thought of soda as being for teenagers - like you had to be one before your parents let you drink them.

treestar

(82,383 posts)
34. Good point. Ask the Black History professors to decide?
Fri Feb 23, 2018, 03:31 PM
Feb 2018

Or some panel of black people.

And maybe they did. Are these white people deciding what to have for black history month? That could be based on racist stereotype, but if black people want watermelon, do they decide for themselves not to want it to disprove a stereotype?

appalachiablue

(41,053 posts)
12. Forgot to ask, did they have a Minstrel Show too, for entertainment?
Thu Feb 22, 2018, 11:43 PM
Feb 2018

Things in this country are becoming so racist and crazy, some days I can hardly believe it, and what to expect next.

A year or so ago there was a huge thread here about Auschwitz Concentration Camp, in Poland providing SHOWERS, outside for visitors because the Summer heat/temperature was so abnormally high there, low 90s, in a country w/o A/C like a lot of Europe.

In the photos, it was clear that the outside showers, intended for people in long lines to use to cool off and for relief while waiting, looked precisely like the ones in the original photos of the gas chambers. The fixtures had similar round, flat heads with sprinkler holes, and looked old fashioned.

Among the visiting bus loads of tourists were Israeli students & families, also using little outside 'water coolers' like some others.

Even with lots of comments, background and history, also clear, current pix of tourists standing under the showers, most people on the thread thought there was nothing at wrong with the shower/sprinklers and there was no similarity to WWII era Nazi-run extermination camps.

It took a couple days to get over that, or more.

appalachiablue

(41,053 posts)
18. Like Al Jolson, the Jazz Singer and other white performers in the 1920s, 30s.
Fri Feb 23, 2018, 01:28 AM
Feb 2018

Maybe, who knows these days..

htuttle

(23,738 posts)
14. Hmm, instead of that, how about
Fri Feb 23, 2018, 12:08 AM
Feb 2018

MINCHET ABISH
Minced beef, onions, tomatoes and lentils in a rice blend of spices. Cooked in a spicy berbere spiked brown sauce.

DOROWOT
Chicken, carrots and a blend of spices slowly cooked in a thick red sauce that’s berbere spiked

ALICHA
Rich stew in a mild yellow curry sauce with cabbage, carrots and potatoes.

Okay, I stole that from the menu of an Ethiopian restaurant on the other side of the block from me, but the point is, it took me about 2 seconds to come up with a better idea than a northerner's idea of southern food.

jb5150

(1,177 posts)
22. I was born and raised in the south
Fri Feb 23, 2018, 03:34 AM
Feb 2018

and that menu sounded pretty tasty to me, I'd eat me a mess of ribs and cornbread.

 

LanternWaste

(37,748 posts)
30. What then, is the relevant purpose of the kool-aid?
Fri Feb 23, 2018, 12:12 PM
Feb 2018

What then, is the relevant purpose of the kool-aid in regards to the menu?

Or do we simply dismiss the major focal point as well by the irrelevance of whether we on an individual level would "like it" too?

moriah

(8,311 posts)
45. I honestly don't know. Sweet and unsweet tea would have made far more sense.
Sat Feb 24, 2018, 01:06 PM
Feb 2018

But I've also learned people don't seem to know you can make this great beverage by adding sugar to the hot tea then icing it outside of the Southeast.

For a decaffinated beverage, lemonade, which can be made with low sugar, would have been better too.

moriah

(8,311 posts)
43. Just as long as I don't have to smell the greens being cooked.
Sat Feb 24, 2018, 12:38 PM
Feb 2018

My (Southern white) grandmother loved all kinds of greens.

But cooking the fresh ones she grew in the garden, for some reason, made the house REEK. Maybe canned greens don't produhce the stink, but her Greens Nights were my enforced diet nights because I was so nauseated from the stench.

It might have been the mustard greens, not the collards, that did that, also. She really didn't differentiate. She loved them.

It really sucked for her when she started on Coumadin, though. They said she had to either eat them at the same frequency at all times, or give them up, because of how concentrated the Vitamin K was. Her Dilantin already didn't play well with it, so she had to sacrifice eating both greens and organ meats. She loved liver, so that sucked for her too.

But the house smelled SO much better...

IronLionZion

(45,259 posts)
15. Is there any sensible choice on the drinks though?
Fri Feb 23, 2018, 12:48 AM
Feb 2018

everything else sounds great! Maybe southern sweet tea would be OK.

But most any kind of sugary drink is going to go over badly because of history and marketing.

http://www.phillytrib.com/news/blacks-and-sugar-sweetened-drinks/article_38c4b875-9277-5176-bad1-d5dc63d27500.html

https://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2013/01/brief-history-racist-soft-drinks/318929/

Here's some racism in a popular movie:

Bayard

(21,805 posts)
20. I'll second that
Fri Feb 23, 2018, 01:39 AM
Feb 2018

That's the food I grew up with, substituting fried chicken or ham for the ribs. I still hate cooked greens.

What's for desert? My grandmother used to make the most wonderful pies and cakes. Even more so because she was diabetic, and could not eat them.

jmowreader

(50,453 posts)
19. They probably could have done without the watermelon reference
Fri Feb 23, 2018, 01:36 AM
Feb 2018

Fortunately, they didn't serve fried chicken.

treestar

(82,383 posts)
41. There is food identified as
Sat Feb 24, 2018, 11:22 AM
Feb 2018

being African American though. There is said to be an African American culture. Sad we can't have that kind of food without it having to be insulting to them? If we had Italian history month, we could have lasagna without it being insulting to the Italians. We can have Chinese food any day in America without insulting the Chinese. They probably think its great non-Chinese people like it - keeps the restaurants in business. So it seems unfair to black people that the cultural food or anything is not to be liked by anyone else without it being insulting. And fried chicken seems to belong to the South generally, too. Surely white southerners are known for it.


JustABozoOnThisBus

(23,283 posts)
32. That was for President's Day.
Fri Feb 23, 2018, 01:44 PM
Feb 2018

Golf, KFC, and diet Coke. In memory of Lincoln, of course. And Trump. Were there any other presidents?

Shrek

(3,970 posts)
29. Is there a negative stereotype associated with Kool-Aid?
Fri Feb 23, 2018, 09:58 AM
Feb 2018

Sorry if I should know that already, but that part of the story baffles me.

JustABozoOnThisBus

(23,283 posts)
31. Don't know if Kool-Aid relates to black history, but ...
Fri Feb 23, 2018, 01:42 PM
Feb 2018

... it has some relevance in Guyana's history.

treestar

(82,383 posts)
42. Yes, that's where I go
Sat Feb 24, 2018, 11:24 AM
Feb 2018

Though I read, they could not afford actual Kool-Aid and bought instead a cheap knock-off called Flavour Aid (it was British) and put the poison into that.

Someone up thread pointed out Kool-Aid is cheaper than soda, but as a white kid, I never experienced getting soda as part of white privilege. We drank Kool-Aid too.

FrodosNewPet

(495 posts)
39. It's sad that good food has to have racist connotations
Sat Feb 24, 2018, 02:15 AM
Feb 2018

Coming from a working class white family with southern Indiana roots, we ate "soul food" all the time. Chicken, greens, beans and cornbread, a glass of Kool Aid, a big slice of watermelon on a hot summer day. Nothing special about it.

It stumped me and pissed me off that delicious, affordable food was used by ignorant racists as an attack vector. At least one positive place, the Sweet Home Café at the National Museum of African American History and Culture is proudly serving traditional soul food dishes for Black History month.

https://nmaahc.si.edu/visit/sweet-home-cafe

Full Menu

The Agricultural South

. Buttermilk Fried Chicken, served with 2 sides
. Lexington Style BBQ Pork Sandwich, Slaw, Pickled Watermelon Rind, Potato Salad
. Slow Cooked Collards, Cornbread Sticks & Potlikker
. Sweet Corn Pudding

The Creole Coast

. Duck, Andouille & Crawfish Gumbo, Carolina Rice, Green Onions
. Gulf Shrimp & Stone Ground Grits, Smoked Tomato Butter, Caramelized Leeks, Crispy Tasso
. BBQ All Natural Chicken, Alabama White Sauce
. Pan-fried Louisiana Catfish Po’boy, Smoked Red Pepper Rémoulade, Green Bean Pickles
. Louisiana-style Catfish, served with 2 sides
. Red Beans & Rice
. Candied Yams
. House Pickled Vegetables, Okra, Green Beans, Chow Chow, Green Tomatoes, B&B

The North States *Except during seasonal promotions

. “Smoking Hot” Pepper Pot
. Smoked Haddock & Corn Croquettes, Gribiche Sauce, House Made Brown Bread
. Smothered Turkey Grillades, Fried Apple, Sage Gravy, Johnny Cakes
. Thomas Downing Inspired NYC Oyster Pan Roast
. Yankee Baked Beans, Smokey Molasses Sauce
. Roast Sweet Potatoes, Cranberry Walnut Vinaigrette

The Western Range

. BBQ Beef Brisket Sandwich, Sweet Potato Bun, Charred Peach & Jalapeno Chutney
. Pan Roast Rainbow Trout, Cornbread & Mustard Green Stuffing, Hazelnut Brown Butter
. Black Eye Pea, Golden Corn & Chanterelle Empanada
. Sweet Tendril Salad, Shaved Radish & Crisp Carrot
. Skillet Cornbread
. High Mesa Peach & Blackberry Cobbler

Core Menu Offerings

. Hamburger / Cheeseburger
. Chicken Tenders
. Hot Dog / Half Smokes
. Chili
. French Fries
. Grab & Go Sandwiches, 2 Types
. Grab & Go Salads, 2 Types
. Grill items available

Home Made Sweets

. Praline Bread Pudding, Bourbon Caramel Sauce
. Banana Pudding Trifle
. Key Lime Cupcakes
. Pumpkin Spiced Cupcakes
. Johnston County Sweet Potato Pie
. Wild Turkey Pecan Pie
. Deep Dish Pumpkin Pie

House Made Beverages

. Sweet Earl Grey Tea & Late Harvest Peaches
. Cranberry Maple Fizz
. “The Mix” aka. Arnold Palmer

moriah

(8,311 posts)
44. Yankees apparently don't know what "sweet tea" is, even at NYU.
Sat Feb 24, 2018, 12:44 PM
Feb 2018

I do have to say this was something I noticed working on the road. You get out of the Southeast, and nobody seems to know how to make sweet tea, or serve it.

Instead you get regular iced tea and either have to sweeten it yourself with artificial sweetener, or stir FOREVER for real sugar to pretend to dissolve.

Still, I promise, it's easy. You add the sugar to the hot tea, then ice it.

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