NBC Cafeteria Celebrates Black History Month With Fried Chicken Special (Update)
So who at NBC thought it would be a good idea for the special today to be, among other things, fried chicken, “in honor of Black History Month”?
Because, spoiler alert – it wasn’t a good idea at all. And now NBCU employee Questlove is bringing it to the attention of his 1 million plus Twitter followers.
Questlove, the band leader and drummer for The Roots (the house band on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon) tweeted this picture from the NBC Commissary at 30 Rock, with the comment: “Hmm HR?”

(And he wasn’t the only employee to notice.)
This probably won’t end well.
> Update: @NBCU just tweeted:
@questlove http://twitpic.com/11d07s – The sign in the NBCU cafeteria has been removed. We apologize for anyone who was offended by it.
This Twitter feed appears to have been started just to tweet this was set up a few months ago, but was used for the first time today.
> Update at 5:30: NBC-owned TheGrio.com (an “African American Breaking News and Opinion” site), has a response from the chef who came up with the meal and made the sign. In part:
It’s not trying to offend anybody and it’s not trying to suggest that that’s all that African-Americans eat. It’s just a good meal.
—-
» Follow Steve Krakauer on Twitter
53 comments
LOL! Ok, this has got to be a case of PC going overboard…? That is offensive? Isn’t it more like a *special plate* to celebrate? Like on St. Patricks Day everyone serves Cornbeef and cabbage?
I love fried chicken!
“Fried Chicken” Is not an African American cultural dish. It is a bad stereotype just like Watermelon
Unbelievable…I suspect someone at NBC might lose their job over this one….
This is standard fare at the many black-owned soul food restaurants in which I’ve dined (except for the Aquafina).
And now all of a sudden it’s offensive???
Sorry, I’m not playing along.
Maybe it was just a coincidence – we’re lacking some context. What did the Commissary serve yesterday? Did it also have a Black History Month note on the menu then (and might every day this month)? Does ?uestlove eat at the Commissary every day, or just today? Can the Internet answer these questions for me? I don’t know. Can Mediaite? Surely not.
I mean, I get it – when it doubt, assume sexy racism is afoot – but there are other questions that aren’t getting asked here.
Just another example of how the LIBS (especially the ones at MS-PEE-ON-ME and the National Barack Channel) are the REAL racists!!1 When will the LEFTIES and SOCIOFASCISTS stop spewing their HATE??!!1
Keep the fried chicken, but I’ll some of everything else!
Call it Scottish-American history week. I don’t care, pass it over…
This is blatantly offensive! Aquafina?! Does Al Sharpton know about this?
I used to work for the federal government in Los Angeles and during black history month they had a number of activities during the lunch hour including a pot luck with many of the food items on that menu brought in by the black employees, including sweet potato pie. I had never had sweet potato pie in my life and it was damn good.
Point being, maybe some of the employees requested these specific items be on the menu.
It’s blatantly obvious, it’s George Bush’s fault.
So who at NBC thought it would be a good idea for the special today to be, among other things, fried chicken, “in honor of Black History Month”?
Chris Matthews?
“For a while there, I forgot I was eating Black people’s food!”
Lord, what will we have for White History Month? Sliced chicken on white bread with mayonaise and Twinkies?
well, if they were offended, more power to ‘em. They can picket, or whatever. I just think it was someone trying to do a nice thing by serving up a yummy lunch…
It reminds me of a short story I read in Chicken Soup for the Soul about fried chicken and collard greens.
For some reason this reminds me of one of O’Reilly’s less stellar moments when he lunched with the Rev. Mr. Sharpton in Harlem.
I agree with Joe Biden and Chris Matthews. Some of those black people are very clean and articulate. It almost makes you forget they’re black.
I work at NBC and I know for a fact that it was an African American woman who came up with this menu idea. So maybe you guys are blowing this out of proportion. I’m an African American woman and I don’t have a problem with this at all. If it was Italian American month and they had pasta, no one would be upset. Why does anything need to be Racist? Why is Fried Chicken racist? Everyone eats it. They have a chain of Fried Chicken stores with a big old white guy as the main icon (KFC). Who cares?
You all need to grow up!
This is just plain silliness. During my 4 years in the US Army during black history month my unit always had a pot luck lunch and lots of the black people did bring in fried chicken and collard greens. I should have told them they were just perpetuating racial stereotypes. During that time I had two black 1SGT’s and they both stated in formation that somebody had to bring those two dishes. This is faux outrage at it’s finest.
Well apparently there was some outrage given that NBC has tweeted its apology (see update to story).
Ha! Ha!
I’ve never understood the stereotypes that go around, and I never will. Having said that, if this had happened at Fox News the left wingers would be going nuts.
So, what does roxsteady think of this? Come on, roxsteady, let’s hear it. If this was happening at Fox News roxsteady would be yelling for them to be shut down immediately, but it’s NBC, so nothing will happen.
My head is spinning. I need an official ruling from the PC Czar. Please rank the offenses in descending order of offensiveness: fried chicken for black history month, Reid saying Obama is light skinned, Obama calling out Scott Brown for driving a pickup truck, Rahm Emanual using the F-word on liberal base, Rahm Emanual using the R-word on liberal base, Maj. Hasan’s car being keyed.
I anxiously await the PC Czar’s guidance.
http://libertyatstake.blogspot.com/
Steve Krakauer, They actually pay you for this Crack Reporting?? You have got to be the “worst reporter in the world”. I hear the car wash is hiring. or better yet. Faux News. Jagg.
Of course NBC took the sign down – lunch time ended HOURS ago!
Why is this news? Only because of the double standard. That menu IS traditional black soul-food. Go to south Atlanta and count the chicken shacks. Go to the deep south and find a black family who runs their own restaurant with fried chicken and you will likely get some of the best food on earth. Black folks love their fried chicken and they know how to make it. Yummy! Not racist, just a cultural thing.
Many stereotypes are based in FACT. Not all blacks like fried chicken, but it is an important dish to many of them. This fact happens to be delicious. Now, NEGATIVE stereotypes such as gold teeth, six kids from six different unknown fathers running wild in public, six-inch fingernails, Ebonics, gangs, robberies, crack smoking, and leaving a trail of cocoa butter behind them could be seen as offensive (unless a black comedian points them out, then it’s funny) because though they are based in FACT, many black people are trying to rise above this stereotype and it does not apply to all blacks. Never met a black person who is trying to rise above fried chicken whether they eat it personally or not.
That’s Sunday dinner all over the south for both blacks and whites.
>>Cecelia says:
February 4, 2010 at 2:28 pm
Keep the fried chicken, but I’ll some of everything else!
Call it Scottish-American history week. I don’t care, pass it over…<)
HAGGIS!!!
OMG! Somebody got upset over this? I would jump on that lunch, for sure!
I am sure the person who got upset over this will step forward to explain their actions.
NOT!
Boy oh boy! you know if FNC had this on their menu it would be the lead story on Olby’s show!
Everybody let’s send an e-mail of support to these folks, they should in no way be punished because some Kucklehead got upset.
Thanks Steve
It sounds so delicious! Not a bad price, either.
Chef Leslie Calhoun. It was her decision to select the menu items and create the sign. TheGrio caught up with her minutes after the tweet fiasco erupted and she seemed genuinely upset by the whole thing. Calhoun is an African-American and employee of Flick, a catering service that runs the NBC commissary. She said that for the last eight years she’s been seeking approval from Flick management for a special Black History Month menu, and had finally been told that every Thursday for the month of February, she could serve whatever she chose.
Poor lady!
Michelle Malkin: MLK, Black History Month, and Cuisine Correctness
http://michellemalkin.com/2010/02/04/mlk-black-history-month-and-cuisine-correctness/
“Lord, what will we have for White History Month? Sliced chicken on white bread with mayonaise and Twinkies?”
White history month…roflmfao!!!! A concept that will NEVER see the light of day! Again roflmfao!!!
Come on folks… lighten up. Nobody was trying to racist, but at the same time it did look at little… let’s say, askew.
Have a chuckle, realize NBC phrased the initial sign wrong, and the reaction to it was over the top and silly. Just another example of PC society gone stupid.
PS-
Yeah, if this happened at FNC, the left would be howling, and KO would highlight it for 3 segments. But there’s a reason why the left is having troubles, and why KO is sinking. Be better than, not equal to.
Questlove, he definitely got a case of intellectual indigestion. Man, sometimes too much rationalizing gives one an upset. What is the issue of having soul food for black history month? Say for example you have Chinese or Japanese menu during Asian-American month, should we call it racist? Raising this issue over nothing is preposterous! Questlove & anyone who supports this idea should apologize to the chef and cooking staff who busted their asses to get this nourishing menu out only to have it thrown it back to their faces because of this pseudo-indignation over racial stereotyping. Don’t misunderstand the effort to remember your heritage for racial profiling. People with this mentality need to chill and not misinterpret everything. Jumping the gun makes them stand out to be ignorant and narrow-minded.
I’m offended by Jimmy Falon’s band leader,he is a douchebag trying to stir up trouble and racism. The lady wanted that to be a special meal for Black History Month and that is exactly what it was.Maybe Questlove or whatever the F his name is,is so liberal that he see’s racism in everything but that makes him the RACIST. I’m sorry we have pot luck lunches a few times a month at work and alot of the black people bring fried chicken and ribs and the spanish bring chicken and rice and empanadas and some white people bring both of those type dishes along with meatballs pumpkin pie and whatever.IT is nothing racist to know many black people ea fried chicken,IT is not a stereotype even though the PC bigoted liberals will try and portray it as such.Guess what? LOTS of white people love fried chicken too!! OMG how racist!!! I was offended also by the Sliced chicken on bread comment for white food(even though i do like chicken sandwiches too mmmmm but to coment that i like it makes that poster a RACIST lol j/k) Guess what also a few of the black people make collard greens too and many of the white and black people and even asians eat them too OMG say it isn’t so!!! HAHA guyess what also? One of the asian guys and his wife make delicious egg rolls too. I should tell them not to bring them in anymore because it is racial offensive to my liberals thought proccess!!Jimmy Fallon should fire his Band Leader for offending me though!!!!
Who could possibly be offended by fried chicken? Grow up, people!
Well… while I do think fried chicken is a stereotype made about African Americans, who doesn’t love fried chicken? But I’m not black, so whether or not I think it’s insulting is a moot point. But for ‘cultural background’ how many people know what African-Americans ate hundreds of years ago? African-Americans came from (I assume) all over Africa, so I’m sure there are literally hundreds of different dishes, and I would not doubt it if one African-American’s heritage was radically different than anothers.
I’m Polish/Italian. Would I be insulted if they offered pizza for Italian history month? Not at all. Who doesn’t love pizza?
Would I be insulted if they offered peirogies (“pyit’-ogh-gies”) for Polish-American history month? Honestly I probably would only because they wouldn’t make them properly. The thing about them is (and this is the complaint I have for the company that makes the store-bought brand; the instructions on the back of the bag are incomplete) you boil them til they’re cooked, THEN you pan fry them (with sauteed onions) til they’re crispy; who would want to eat a sloppy hunk of dough stuffed with mashed potatoes, or mashed potatoes/cheddar, or (yuck!) saur kraut? And then you need sour cream for dipping them in, and I can totally understand people who look at plain boiled peirogies and think ‘yuck, that polish food is disgusting.’ it’s because it wasn’t prepared properly, and the incomplete instructions on the back of the store-bought bags don’t help.
Teecee Lynch: “Keep the fried chicken, but I’ll some of everything else!”
I accidentally 83mb of .rar files is this bad?
where’s the love, questlove? he’s not pissed because he’s a liberal. he’s pissed because he’s a fool. i’m german/polish and a liberal liberal. if they served kraut for german day, i would laugh — even though “kraut” is particularly offensive to me as i had a horrible old man in my neighborhood who turned out to be one of my high school teachers who called me a kraut as nastily as he could whenever possible. he was a fool, too. i bet this controversy hurts the heart of the chef who came up with this menu. people who look for insults everywhere are fools, questlove. grow up.
Oh my goodness…too funny! I happen to be white (Irish-American since everything needs to be hyphenated nowadays to be credible), and I personally LOVE fried chicken! My Grandmother made the best fried chicken ever, in my opinion because she was Southern, and I see no problem sharing this delicious meal with everyone who would love a great meal. What makes this funny to me is that the left makes EVERYTHING racial in some obscure way, and this is obviously an attempt to point out that the race card needs to end. It has been pulled out of the deck so many times for reasons that were NOT legitimate, that it no longer has an impact for situations where is actually should be looked at. What the left fails to realize is, they, and they alone, have destroyed all the progress we as a Nation have made in this issue. No one listens anymore. We as a Nation have traveled a very long journey to end racial predudice, but with the left always making it an issue, we have taken many MORE steps backwards. I, for one, do NOT believe that the MAJORITY of “whites” feels that blacks are inferior. They helped build this great Nation, contributed in ALL it’s successes, and have MORE than paid their “dues” in order to now say what they feel is the direction we need to go to help save Her. I do have to suggest, however, if the black population wants to build on what their forefathers fought for, they need to stop with the hyphenated Afro-American title. Just saying you are an American is enough to let the world know that WE, Americans, are NOT of a single heritage! That is what makes us special…Americans (by any reasonable definition) are a collection of the worlds cultures. Black Americans have at least EARNED the right (through their contributions in building, defending, advancing the American way of life)….we need to be concerned about those who have NOT sacrificed ANYTHING for this Nation. Those are the groups that we need to stop …..the ones (whomever they may be) that come here and decide that THEY need to change us. America is still the greatest Nation on earth as far as welcoming ALL cultures….but when you come here, be prepared to respect the Nation that welcomed you, or go home! That does NOT apply to blacks….they are Americans!
WOW….FOX NEWS could NEVER get away with this ..
They forgot the grape drank
What did NBC say about what Fuzzy Zoeller said about Tiger Woods and Fuzzy’s “fried chicken” remark? It was a big “scandal” back then.
I personally think this is a non-news story, but I sure would like some balance in the media. If it was a scandal for Fuzzy why isn’t it a scandal for NBC?
I am watching Morning Joe and they are having fun with this.
ChickaBOOMer: NBC’s Coward Greens
http://chickaboomer.blogspot.com/2010/02/nbcs-coward-greens.html
Oh, relax people. Similar menus are found all over the South and the Food Network. It’s good eatin’! There’s nothing wrong with fried chicken and collard greens. Yum!
Yeah seriously, this just looks like good food anytime.. Frankly, I figure more black folk would be offended by a bunch of bland boiled honky crap or froufrou overpriced pretentious drivel all the time.
Real food for Real Americans!
They forgot the Schlitz malt liquor .
Silly people.
This is a Liberal PC issue (political correctness). It is funny because it highlights the ambiguity of PC and how it is used as a weapon. If, say George Bush, had a black history fried chicken dinner at the white house or this was at the Fox News cantina then people would be wringing there hands, up set, scandalized and foaming at the mouth.
It is a fact that people who want to get upset about stupid stuff are given leave to attack and smear other people for no good reason except that they are offended by something they usually can’t even explain clearly. Just because this is done by the great heaven liberalism NBC, there was only a little bit of grumbling. People like me, who are of a conservative vent, find it greatly amusing anytime the purveyors of atrocious PC BS get burned by their own rules.
Any rational person, with common sense would just smile and be amused by this sign, it is hypocritical, PC spouting, racist liberals that should burned. They after all ruin it for everyone else.
FRIED CHICKEN?! HOT DAMN!! What? No watermelon or “Red” Kool-Aid? Boooo!
But seriously, I don’t have a problem with the menu.I’m African-American and I thought it was funny. If they would’ve served that at my school, I would have been happy as hell! I love ALL that stuff! Good Ol’ Fashion Southern Food. YUMMY!
Hahahaha!!! @biggeorge, that was HILARIOUS!!!!
i think questlove secretly wanna be white
HAHA. This is rich. It’s the libs own fault. If they hadn’t been blasting everyone with the racist shotgun this would be a non-issue. Fried Chicken. HAHA. Lib’s painted themselves into a corner with their hatred. The lady who came up with the menu is black. I’m sure upper management did alot of hand-wringing over it. Lib’s get more entertaining by the day.
I do not opine that each single student all over the world has a passion of analysis essay composing! Nevertheless, people that do not like writing should take help of distinguished comparison essay service and be happy with a success.
Ok, let’s clear this thing up.
Not ALL Black people enjoy Fried Chicken, or all of the other things on that menu for that matter. The meal the chef decided to prepare was in fact a traditional SOUTHERN meal that you would see both Black and White people have at dinner (at times.)
The fact that the menu was set up with the guise of being a celebration of Black History Month, can be offensive to some Black people, because contrary to popular belief, we don’t all eat the same things. The Black person who saw that sign probably thought this menu doesn’t celebrate Black History Month at all, because when he/she thinks about what Black History Month is about, the menu threw him off.
When you really think about it though, many of the key players in the Civil Rights Movement were from the South. They probably did eat some of the things that were listed on that menu, but (You are not what you eat) food should not necessarily be correlated to certain individuals.
For the young Irish woman who commented about the cornbeef and cabbage, that actually is something that is well known to be consummed in certain Irish cultures, but I’m sure you never walked into the cafeteria at your job and they were serving such cuisine in light of St. Patricks Day. (I have been to several Irish Pubs on St. Patricks Day over the years, that do in fact serve this cuisine, so your comparison shouldn’t be compared at all.)
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