After giving kids fried chicken, watermelon, and waffles on the 1st day of Black History Month, authorities at a middle school in New York have confessed.
Authorities at Nyack Middle School, an hour west of New York City, acknowledged the “inexcusably inappropriate” dinner that relied on racist stereotypes from the past letter to parents.
According to the Nyack principal, David Johnson, “the provision of chicken and waffle as a meal with watermelon as a treat on the first day of Black History Month was unforgivably disrespectful and showed a lack of knowledge of our district’s vision to overcome racial inequality.”
Officials at the school also mentioned that Aramark, the school’s caterer, delivered a different meal from what had been planned.
On February 1, students were expected to receive cheesesteaks, broccoli, and fruit, based on a menu published on the school website.
Since the US ended slavery, watermelon has been associated with black people. The fruits became representations of Black liberation after emancipation as many of them were grown and sold by Black people. Based on the National Museum of African American History and Culture, White individuals who resisted the abolition of slavery used watermelons to criticize Black people.
