re: Firefighter fired for bringing a gift of delicious fruit, met with dubious cries of racism

Maybe the recipients are being overly sensitive. But maybe the firefighter who brought them the watermelon is a fricking moron who should recognize how that was going to be perceived.

If you were going to walk over to a predominantly black group and welcome them with literally anything, would you go find something like watermelon and fried chicken? I sincerely doubt it.

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I was just pointing out that black people are not "owning" watermelon (or fried chicken), as your previous post mentioned.

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Kinda are when you think the watermelon is just because you are black rather than because it’s a delicious treat when in season to be served at any gathering. It tells me you think the watermelon is yours and there can be no other reason to bring one to a gathering than to single out black people, who clearly now own the melon as their own.

If so, then I must be black, because every time we’d sit down in the summer time we’d have one on the table.

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Perpetual victim mentality

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Yep...and until it falls on deaf ears it'll never end...

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Just to be clear, I don't think black people who find this racist are "owning" watermelon. But they are acknowledging that watermelon is often a symbol of racism associated with black people.

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LINK

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But the stereotype that African Americans are excessively fond of watermelon emerged for a specific historical reason and served a specific political purpose. The trope came into full force when slaves won their emancipation during the Civil War. Free black people grew, ate, and sold watermelons, and in doing so made the fruit a symbol of their freedom. Southern whites, threatened by blacks’ newfound freedom, responded by making the fruit a symbol of black people’s perceived uncleanliness, laziness, childishness, and unwanted public presence. This racist trope then exploded in American popular culture, becoming so pervasive that its historical origin became obscure. Few Americans in 1900 would’ve guessed the stereotype was less than half a century old.

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It's a melon, a fruit, one of the food groups.
People need to grow up, get a f'ing life & quit getting butt hurt over every little thing.

He really missed an opportunity. He should have brought in some fried chicken too.

Who doesn’t like fried chicken?

In the immortal words of Dave Chappelle,:

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Just cuz I eat Chicken and Watermelon they think that something’s wrong with me. Let me tell you somethin if you don’t like chicken and watermelon, something is wrong with you, there is something wrong with you! Where are all these people who don't like Chicken and Watermelon? I'm sick of hearing about how bad it is, it's great! I'm waiting for Chicken to approach me to do a commercial ****, I'll do it for free Chicken! It's the least I can do.

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Maybe the recipients are being overly sensitive. But maybe the firefighter who brought them the watermelon is a fricking moron who should recognize how that was going to be perceived.

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Or maybe the firefighter is a decent person who had no idea some idiots would be offended by a fruit.

The man was fired over a fricking watermelon.

Watermelon is dericious - I don't care who knows.

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You go out of your way to prove to everyone on the board that you're not like all the other black people

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And there it is.. The standard progressive view of black people who don't fit their idea of what a black person should be like.

Hate to tell you proggie, there are lots of black folks who don't fit your mold. Good, honest people who don't have thin skin.

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You do realize that by saying what you did to me, you're implying that I'm supposed to be offended by incidents line this because that's what you expect from black people, right?

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That's the standard progressive view. You need them to defend you....