Watermelon
While I was a college student during the mid-to-late 1980s, I have fond recollections of the picnics held on campus in the early fall and late spring. Standard picnic fare included hamburgers, hot dogs, corn on the cob, a selection of salads, homemade brownies, and watermelon. A classmate shared the following with me during one of these picnics: One of the cafeteria staff, upon seeing my classmate approaching the watermelon table asked her, “Would you like a slice of watermelon”? If the dynamics of the exchange aren’t apparent, the cafeteria worker was White, and my classmate, Black.
My classmate believed the exchange to be racist. To her, the cafeteria worker made an assumption of her affinity for watermelon based on racist portrayals and negative stereotypes associated with Black Americans and the fruit in question.
The above account changed my own views on watermelon for the next 20 years. No joke. I did not consume watermelon, at least not in the presence of White people, for fear of perpetuating the stereotype. Which is strange, because I did not grow up with negative associations about watermelon at the family compound. My parents, who are true Southerners, are watermelon connoseiurs. They can determine the quality of watermelon on look, feel, and taste. Whenever my father buys a watermelon for my mother from the roadside stand or the supermarket, I ask her, “How is/was the watermelon?” I can trust my mother’s quality control assessment, without question. As a result, I myself have become a good watermelon detective, but hope to aspire to my mother’s skill level some day. I also have loving memories of summer family vacations spent at the home of my maternal grandparents. I recall my maternal grandfather bringing home huge watermelons, which we would all enjoy for several days. My maternal grandfather, according to my mother, loved watermelon juice. In fact, this was the one beverage he requested just before he died.
The portrayals of Black Americans and watermelon were racist, and were created by White Americans to reinforce the belief that we were lazy and unintelligent. However, not eating watermelon on the basis of racist portrayals and negative stereotypes is counterintuitive. Many Black Americans refuse to eat a fruit which we have been taught not to eat, but that we need to eat because it is good for us. The ultimate irony.
As for my college classmate: Was it racism? I don’t believe it was. I do, however, believe the dynamics, at least for her, made it so. Therefore, I do not deny her feelings – then or now. Honestly, the cafeteria worker most likely asked the same question of every student who approached the watermelon table, without any racist tone in her voice, and would probably have been very surprised to know that my classmate interpreted the exchange as racist. Thus is the baggage we as Black Americans carry, as a result of the racist history of our country. It colors – pun intended – every exchange and encounter. However, our hang-up with watermelon is one bag we need to unload.
I now eat watermelon – in public, as well as at home. What changed my mindset? Dr. David Pilgrim. I am eternally grateful to him.
Thoughts?
I sent you my “white person makes possible watermelon gaffe with black person” story via twitter (feel free to repost it here if you like).
Growing up white in Northern California in the 1950s and 1960s, I was not exposed to the stereotypes that David Pilgrim illuminates as a child.
After graduating from college I worked for a while as a research assistant for a fellow who was studying American dehumanizing images of “the other” — one project was finding and collating images depicting Irish immigrants in the mid-19th century with previous and contemporaneous images of African-Americans. That’s where I first saw the offensive watermelon-eating depictions of African-Americans, and the depictions of both Irish and African-Americans as ape-like.
I wonder if the children born after about 1980 will have any idea of what we are talking about.
Hi, Liz. It’s been a long time since you have visited and commented. I enjoy when you do both. I appreciate your remarks.
It must be kismet: Regarding your question re: children born after 1980? Honestly, I don’t think that they would know what we are talking about. Which from a historical and cultural perspective, is a shame.
Response #1 — re the deliciousness of watermelon — I was at a fancy party which served “Patriotic Salad” — watermelon, jicama, and (rawish) blue corn. I think it had an olive oil & white wine vinegar dressing — I think some red pepper flakes and maybe some lime juice. If I find any blue corn at the market I’m going to try to recreate.
Response #2 — Children born after 1980 — I was really triyng to capture something about my granddaughter, who was born in 2005. She is bilingual in Spanish & English (her mother is a native Spanish speaker). As a 4 yo, she is more or less oblivious to a lot of things. (She is also often grumpy with me because I do not respond to her in Spanish…).
The thing is, the 13 or 14) should be aware of the legacy of racial and social discrimination. The trick is — how to teach it in such a way that the children recognize that it was a reality in the past, which affects current relations & events.
Liz, with respect to your second point, it depends largely on parents to instill an anti-racist cultural perspective on the home front. It also depends on the anti-racist perspective of the school where children are schooled. As you say:
“The trick is — how to teach it in such a way that the children recognize that it was a reality in the past, which affects current relations & events.”
There are two websites that may help:
Anti-Racist Parent – this is a blog for parents desiring to raise children with an anti-racist perspective.
Tolerance.org – many schools, including my place of employ, utilize the resources of this organization.
I remember when Dave Chapelle ran a similar skit on his show (the food at issue was fried fish) and I couldn’t stop laughing because I can completely relate to these anxieties. However, I have to say that I find myself less self-conscious when I am at home in the South than during the few years I lived in the Northeast. Last month at a crawfish festival here in South Carolina, the local organic foods market had a watermelon stand and it (except for the crawfish) had the longest line of people, black and white. In other words, I would argue that the stigma is also regional – if being black has its baggage, then being black and “country” only compounds the anxieties for some. (And just to be clear, my daughter and I were line buying watermelon too. She even made me go back for a second slice.) Thanks for sharing this!
Hi, Claudia. Thank you for visiting and for commenting. I appreciate the stories you shared – about fish, crawfish and watermelon.
I also appreciate your statement re: stigmas being regional. I had not considered a stigma with respect to food being regional. That’s an interesting perspective.
I think I have to agree with Claudia on the stigma being a regional one. I remember living in NY and hearing the ‘fried chicken and watermelon’ thing. But living in rural NC those weren’t considered ‘black food’ like they were in NY, they were southern food. Everyone eats fried chicken and watermelon in the summer.
And I can’t think of any racial connotations attached to the foods in question in the south. It was only when I was living in the north that I heard (or overhead) those kinds of comments. The more I think about it, the more I think anything that was considered a ’southern food’ – collards, okra, cornbread – were the foods that ‘only black folk ate’. It’s an interesting question. I may have to do some research on this.
Hi, Pega. Thank you for your additional comments.
I agree with you and Claudia that there is a regional stigma associated with watermelon. However, the regional stigma doesn’t change the fact that Black Americans have been made to feel ashamed, whether directly or indirectly, by the negative stereotypes and denigrating caricatures created by White people of Black people with this particular food.
Great post, you know I don’t eat fried chicken in front of the others because of that very reason. There is too much tied to it.
Hi, Jovan. Thank you for commenting.
Well, my brother, one word of advice: Eat fried chicken in public, and be proud. It’s not your hang-up about which to be ashamed.
However, the regional stigma doesn’t change the fact that Black Americans have been made to feel ashamed, whether directly or indirectly, by the negative stereotypes and denigrating caricatures created by White people of Black people with this particular food.
If it seemed that I was dismissing that, then I apologize. I know I am not the final authority, I only meant to say that I don’t remember hearing the same sort of denigrating comments when I lived in the south, not that they didn’t exist; I’m sure they did, I was just lucky enough to not be exposed to them. And that I think it is a topic that could use some research, to see how my anecdotal experiences differ from, or adhere to, the norm.
Hi, Pega. No; I do not feel you dismissed the negative stereotype aspect. Quite the contrary. I just want for anyone else who may come along to understand that both aspects – regional stigma and the stereotypes and caricatures – and that one doesn’t cancel out the other.