WATCH: Tiffany Derry Joins MSNBC Round Table Discussion On Black Chefs

Melissa Harris Perry invited Top Chef All-Star Tiffany Derry, John Besh “Chefs Move” Scholarship recipient Syrena Johnson, Wall Street Journalist Charlotte Druckman, and Associate Professor of Social and Cultural Analysis at NYU Michael Ralph to participate in a round table discussion on black chefs in the kitchen. While 60% of professional chefs are white, 18% are Latino, and 15% are Asian, only 9% of the professional culinary industry is made up of black chefs. It goes without saying, of course, that the percentage of black female chefs sinks even lower.

Check out the two-part discussion below to see Tiffany weigh in on what it’s like to be a black woman running a kitchen, the rejection of the “Soul Food” point of view by black chefs, and a très educational brief history of black chefs in America dating back to the American Revolution.

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