The Breakfast Club - DONKEY: Aramark Serves Chicken, Waffles & Watermelon At Nyack Middle School For Black History Month

Episode Date: February 6, 2023

Aramark Serves Chicken, Waffles & Watermelon At Nyack Middle School For Black History MonthSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Had enough of this country? Ever dreamt about starting your own? I planted the flag. This is mine. I own this. It's surprisingly easy. 55 gallons of water, 500 pounds of concrete. Or maybe not. No country willingly gives up their territory. Oh my God.

What is that? Bullets. Listen to Escape from Zakistan. We need help! That's Escape from Z-A-Q-istan on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey guys, I'm Kate Max. You might know me from my popular online series, The Running Interview Show, where I run with celebrities, athletes, entrepreneurs, and more. After those runs, the conversations keep going. That's what my podcast

Post Run High is all about. It's a chance to sit down with my guests and dive even deeper into their stories, their journeys, and the thoughts that arise once we've hit the pavement together. Listen to Post Run High on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. As a kid, I really do remember having these dreams and visions, but you just don't know what is going to come for you. Alicia shares her wisdom on growth, gratitude, and the power of love. I forgive myself. It's okay.

Have grace with yourself. You're trying your best. And you're going to figure out the rhythm of this thing. Alicia Keys, like you've never heard her before. Listen to On Purpose with Jay Shetty on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Lauren Smith, Laura Layton, and Daphne Zuniga. On July 8th, 1992, apartment buildings with pools were never quite the same as Melrose Place was introduced to the world. We are going to be reliving every hookup, every scandal, and every single wig removal together. So listen to Still the Place on the iHeartRadio app,

Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to podcasts. Hi, I'm Dani Shapiro, host of the hit podcast, Family Secrets. How would you feel if when you met your biological father for the first time, he didn't even say hello? And what if your past itself was the secret, and the time had suddenly come to share that past with your child? These are just a few of the powerful and profound questions we'll be asking on our 11th season of Family Secrets. Listen to season 11 of Family Secrets on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

This is a miracle. There is no question that there are problems in this country between police and community. Yes, you are a donkey. The latest on that police killing of a black man. Now to new developments in the deadly spa shooting rampage. It was a really bad day for him and this is what he did. And so we are in a state of emergency.

Okay, white supremacist violence is and always has been the number one threat to our society. But I'm also very proud that my wife is white. To the breakfast club, bitches. All right, Charlene, please tell me, why was I your donkey of the day? Well, donkey of the day for Monday, February 6th goes to Aramark. Aramark is a food service company that provides meals to the District of nyack new york and other places and that's what they did on the first day of black history month provided meals let me tell you something on friday i gave donkey of the day the turning point usa at clemson for having an

affirmative action bake sale i'd be lying to you if i said uh i wasn't entertained by all the ways people stumbled their way through honoring black history month and the only reason i'm giving aaron mark donkey of the day is not because what they did was so egregious. It's just that this is one of those things that by now people should have figured out. Okay, see on the Black History Month menu, Aramark had a Philly cheesesteak, broccoli, and fresh fruit. That's what was on the school's lunch calendar.

That's what people thought they was going to eat. But they decided since it was Black History Month to change the menu at the last minute. Would you like to know what they ordered before I go to the news report? I just want to ask the room. Ray J, what do you think they ordered for the first day

of Black History Month? They ordered... What do you think of black people? What do you think? Food. Don't worry about it, Ray J. It's okay. The fact that you don't have

an answer is good. Yeah, I don't want to. I don't want to have an answer for that. Behind the scenes, he said Roscoe's chicken and waffles and watermelon but I'm not going to put him on blast. No, you said chicken and watermelon

and then I went, well, isn't that and then you said, what, Ray J? And I went, Roscoe's chicken and waffles and watermelon Let's go to CBS 2 News for the report, please went roscoe's chicken and waffles and watermelon let's go to cbs2 news for the report please a mother reassuring her daughter after a racially insensitive lunch option was served at niac middle school the first day of black history month instead of Philly cheesesteak, broccoli and fresh fruit, Aramark, the food service company that provides meals to the district, served chicken and waffles and watermelon. In a statement, Aramark apologized for the insensitivity, saying in part,

while our menu was not intended as a cultural meal, we acknowledged that the timing was inappropriate and our team should have been more thoughtful in its service. But this isn't the first time our mark found itself in hot water. Back in 2018, another racially insensitive meal was served at New York University during Black History Month. It included barbecued ribs, collard greens, cornbread, Kool-Aid, and watermelon-flavored water. When called out, the company apologized and workers were fired. What's wrong, Ray?

What? What's wrong with you? You gotta see Ray behind the scenes. He's like, what's wrong with Ray? You laughed and you made me laugh, and then I'm laughing later when we're back live it was just like I mean it's it sounds tasty it's making you hungry

it was good the Kool-Aid was a little rough like it wasn't that much the Kool-Aid was rough like with it. It could have just been a strawberry special drink. Here's the thing. Air Mark is making a rookie mistake at this point.

We've seen this one enough times to know that this was going to cause social media backlash. Right? I think to add the watermelon in the chicken, like the chicken waffle. Well, we'll get to that. I want to talk about that. And the watermelon in the chicken like the chicken waffle well we'll get to that and i want to talk about that and the watermelon i want i actually want to talk about that because we've seen this enough times to know that the woke tang clan that exists in these schools is going to have a problem with this but this is what your uncle charlie is here for see i've told y'all a million times on

this radio we have to rethink this chicken and watermelon stereotype because the only reason we embrace it as a stereotype is because white men who are upset at our progression made it a stereotype. I've told y'all this a million times so much so that I don't even have to repeat myself. I can just flash back to one of the last times I said it and you won't even know it's a flashback because I didn't have a nose job like DJ Envy so my

voice sounds the same. Envy, you got a nose job? No, man. Yes, he did. Because it's okay. It's okay. Would you like this lesson again? Because it is Black History Month, so it's the perfect time to teach our history. Chicken and watermelons is a stereotype, but why is it? Listen to your old Uncle Charlotte explain why it is. Listen.

This is what they said about watermelon. This is from an article written in 2014 for The Atlantic by William Black. William Black says 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 in 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. That's right. Sovereign whites threatened by blacks. Newfound freedom responded by making the fruit a symbol of sovereign diets but they had a particular utility for slaves they were cheap easy to feed and a good source of meat but Smith says came birth of a nation the silent movie from 1915 that showed the founding of the Ku Klux Klan

one scene in the movie features a group of actors portraying shiftless black elected officials acting rowdy and crudely in a legislative hall the message to the audience these are the dangers of letting blacks vote sound familiar some of the legislators are shown drinking uh others had their feet kicked up on their desk and one of them was very ostentatiously eating fried chicken that image says claire smith really solidified the way white people thought of black people and fried chicken smith said that like watermelon that other food has been a mainstay in racist depictions of blacks chicken was also a good vehicle for racism because of the way people eat it it's a food you eat with your hands and

therefore it's dirty table manners are a way of determining who is worthy of respect or not in quote did you learn something ray jizzle turn his mic on Did you learn something? Ray Jizzle? Turn his mic on. Did you learn something? Hello? You good? I learned something. Word.

I learned something. It's just, I don't know. It's just such a thin line between. It is not. We let our pressure. No, I'm meaning like I like watermelon. As you should. Like I love watermelon. We have no reason not to like it. That's what I'm saying. It used to be a symbol of freedom for us. That meaning like I like watermelon. As you should. Like I love watermelon. We have no reason

not to like it. That's what I'm saying. It used to be a symbol of freedom for us. That's what I'm saying. So where the chicken, waffles, and watermelon because, I mean,

that's a good combination to me. A fantastic combination. Even with syrup on the watermelon. That's disgusting. No, I'm just saying like if it got,

if a little bit got dripped on there when you like trying to mix them all together you got the chicken, the waffles, and then the watermelon was in there too

and it was just kind of. Y'all let y'all the pressure. Shame y all together you got the chicken and the waffles and the watermelon was in there too and it was just kinda y'all let y'all the pressure shame y'all into thinking that chicken and watermelon was a negative stereotype when the reality

of the situation is chicken and watermelon as Ray J just said is just delicious that's what I was trying to say from the beginning that's all

nothing more nothing less that's it and I don't understand how y'all can take the n-word a word that was just a racial slur

that racist whites used and still use as a derogatory term and flip that into something positive and some of y'all tell the world no that's our word it's ours y'all took that negative ass word and made it a term of endearment but things that god actually created like chickens and watermelons that are delicious that we made money off y'all let those racist sovereign whites turn those things into a negative y'all let those sovereign whites turn that into a racist trope and y'all just accepted it. Y'all literally let someone shame you for doing something good.

You literally let someone shame you for being an entrepreneur. You're supposed to look at those sovereign whites the same way we look at Negroes who clown other Negroes for going to college, for reading, for having a legit occupation. But with all of that said, our mark, come on, you have to know better. OK, until we can change the narrative back to chicken and watermelon not being a stereotype, you got to know better. I agree. I agree. And, you know, chicken and watermelon and you throw in the waffles, too.

I mean, that combination is off the chain. Delicious. I would love to have that at a party instead of asparagus and some chicken and some lamb chops or something like that. Lamb chops is good. I like lamb chops. Oh, lamb chops is great. Please give Aaron Mark the sweet sounds and the Hamilton's.

I like the fried chicken. I'm a donkey. I'm a donkey. I'm a donkey. I'm a donkey. I'm a donkey. I'm a donkey. I'm a donkey.

I'm a donkey. I'm a donkey. I'm a donkey. I'm a donkey. I'm a donkey. I'm a donkey. I'm a donkey. I'm a donkey.

I'm a donkey. I'm a donkey. I'm a donkey. I'm a donkey. I'm a donkey. I'm a donkey. I'm a donkey. I'm a donkey.

I'm a donkey. I'm a donkey. I'm a donkey. I'm a donkey. I'm a donkey. I'm a donkey. I'm a donkey. I'm a donkey.

I'm a donkey. I'm a donkey. I'm a donkey. I'm a donkey. I'm a donkey. I'm a donkey. I'm a donkey. I'm a donkey.

I'm a donkey. I'm a donkey. I'm a donkey. You are the donkey of the day. No, it's not for you, Ray. No, but Indy was looking at me when they were playing it. No, no, no. You were talking. No, I'm not. I just took it wrong.

Let's open up the phone lines. All right, let's do it. 800-585-1051. What's the question? The question, can we turn chicken and watermelon back to what it originally was? Good food? Do we have to continue to make it a racist trope? Do we have to continue to look at it as a stereotype?

Do we have to continue to be upset when people put chicken and watermelon on the menu, knowing that watermelon was a symbol of freedom? Knowing that we used to make money off chicken and our oppressors literally, literally shamed us into thinking that chicken and watermelon was a negative stereotype and the reality of the situation is chicken and watermelon were symbols of crime for us let's let's hold up the phone let's have that that conversation 800-585-1051 let me ask you a question though before we go okay your daughter's school celebrates black history month and they tell you for friday they doing chicken waffles

and watermelon how do you feel i need'm going to feel a little way. You just said that. Let's talk about it. I need to know your intention. I know the meaning behind chicken and watermelon, but I want to know what the school's intention is. Why do y'all think? Why did y'all serve it?

And black people like chicken and waffles? What if you ask the administration that question? Then they break down what I just broke down about watermelon being a symbol of freedom. And what if they give the kids that lesson with the meal? What if they just say, egg is like chicken waffle? That's a little different. I need to know how you come to that conclusion. It's ideology at the end of the day to educate somebody.

I don't even think you used that word. I don't know if you did or not. It don't sound like you did. Well, it's education. The way your headphones look is how you seem like you used that word just now. I can't hear. Oh, okay okay can we fix ray j's headphones but what i'm saying is to be knowledgeable on everything like if you broke down what it was there you go while you're serving it boom then you give them the education that they need to understand it and love it and so it doesn't go viral wrong it

goes viral right i'm smart well let's talk about it when we come back. I know you smart. Ray J is here, our guest host, and it's The Breakfast Club. Good morning. Wake that ass up. Now, I ain't about to go crazy, but this is Ray J, and I've officially joined The Breakfast Club. The Breakfast Club. Donkey of the Day is brought to you by the law office of Michael S. Lamisoff. Don't be a donkey.

Dial pound 250 on your cell and say the bull if you've been hurt in a construction accident. That's pound 250 from your cell and say the bull. Had enough of this country? Ever dreamt about starting your own? I planted the flag. This is mine. I own this. It's surprisingly easy.

55 gallons of water, 500 pounds of concrete. Or maybe not. No country willingly gives up their territory. Oh my god. What is that? Bullets. Listen to Escape from Zakistan. Keep tail! That's Escape from Z-A-Q Estan on the iHeartRadio

app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey guys, I'm Kate Max. You might know me from my popular online series, The Running Interview Show, where I run with celebrities, athletes, entrepreneurs, and more. After those runs, the conversations keep going. That's what my podcast, Post Run High, is all about.

It's a chance to sit down with my guests and dive even deeper into their stories, their journeys, and the thoughts that arise once we've hit the pavement together. Listen to Post Run High on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. As a kid, I really do remember having these dreams and visions,

but you just don't know what is going to come for you. Alicia shares her wisdom on growth, gratitude, and the power of love. I forgive myself. It's okay. Have grace for yourself. You're trying your best, and you're going to figure out the rhythm of this thing. Alicia Keys, like you've never heard her before. Listen to On Purpose with Jay Shetty on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, everyone.

This is Courtney Thorne-Smith, Laura Layton, and Daphne Zuniga. On July 8th, 1992, apartment buildings with pools were never quite the same as Melrose Place was introduced to the world. We are going to be reliving every hookup, every scandal, and every single wig removal together. So listen to Still the Place on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to podcasts. Hi, I'm Dani Shapiro, host of the hit podcast, Family Secrets. How would you feel if when you met your biological father for the first time, he didn't even say hello? And what if your past itself was a secret and the time had suddenly come to share that past with your child?

These are just a few of the powerful and profound questions we'll be asking on our 11th season of Family Secrets. Listen to season 11 of Family Secrets on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.