Uproar Unsues Over NBC Black History Month Menu

Thanks to the Twitter skills of Roots star Questlove, who's the leader of Jimmy Fallon's "Late Night" band (and who has 1.3 million Twitter followers), the world has now seen this sign posted today in the NBC Universal cafeteria. Of course, the blogosphere is in overdrive about this menu. Within minutes of Questlove's tweet, the sign was taken down at NBC. Even comedian Wanda Sykes clowned NBC....on Jay Leno's late-night show on NBC. The black chef is defending the menu choices. Questlove apparently got some heat on him from NBC for tweeting a photo of the menu.

No chitlins? Smoked turkey, instead of hamhocks? What kind of buppie nonsense is that? No swine or fried catfish options? Jalapeno cornbread? And who drinks Aquafina with such a meal, instead of sweet tea or Kool-Aid? No macaroni & cheese or candied yams? And no dessert, like sweet potato pie or peach cobbler? Sniff, clearly someone who didn't grow up at all in the South. If they really wanted to go historical, where are the gizzards, fatback, or pig feet? Bwahahaha....

In all seriousness, I don't see what's the fuss over this menu. Although a few liberties have been taken, this NBC menu is for the most part standard soul food cuisine. This is what the ancestors would've called good eating, and certainly proper for a month that seeks to celebrate African-American traditions. Except for the black-eyed peas, I'd eat & drink everything on this menu. And the price is great, especially for New York. I'd much rather have this menu than the replacement menu that NBC put up after the brouhaha started.

Yes, they could've had a rotating menu that includes Caribbean and West African dishes (especially since about one in three blacks in New York City, where NBC is based, is of recent immigrant origin) in honor of Black History Month. And yes, this menu is eaten by Southerners of various races. However, it is most famously associated with African-American cuisine. Why are so many black folks acting ashamed of our culinary heritage (and I'm not talking about the folks who promote healthier versions of traditional recipes, as was somewhat done here), especially when it's a damn delicious one? There's some self-hatred going down here...

Full disclosure: I am a contributing writer to theGrio.com, which is an MSNBC-affiliated website and MSNBC is owned by NBC Universal.