Good thing there isn’t a stereotype that fits that.

Every group, no matter how thin you slice them, will always be able to claim some identifiable stereotype of their very own based on traditional foods or customs.

If African-Americans like watermelon, fried chicken and malt liquor why is that a problem?

Embrace your Stereotype! Wrap it in your loving arms
and pull it’s fangs!

But here, I just don’t see what the hell the joke could possibly be, except the black people = watermelon eaters thing.

And yes, I never understood why it became a mean thing to say. I don’t like watermelon but i do like fried chicken. i remember reading “invisible man” by ellison and in one scene the guy eats yams with maple syrup on it and is ashamed to because as a black man he was fitting a stereotype. but i am reading it, going “that sounds good.” i literally tried it a few nights later and you know what? it was pretty good. So it is messed up the way that racists have used what would ordinarily be, at most, a minor cultural difference and blew it up into this silliness. But it is where we are.

I make a distinction between “racism” and “referencing racial stereotypes”. I don’t believe they’re equivalent.

Generally, I have no problem with humor based on racial stereotypes as long as the stereotypes have some statistical validity, and the humor demonstrates a modicum of cleverness in its construction.

According to Merriam-Webster, racism includes “a belief that race is the primary determinant of human traits and capacities.”

To imply that Obama likes watermelon because he is black is pretty cut-and-dry.

http://in.news.yahoo.com/139/20090227/906/ten-eastwood-thinks-political-correctnes.html

But it’s more than just black. There’s also Spanish, Native Indian, white, and Portuguese mixed in. Results – the sort of deep-tan exotic hotness that makes Halle Berry look homely by comparison.

If that is not enough I have the Hydrogen bomb of why melon is good and you can see it here: Mulher Melancia ( Melon Woman ) of Brazilian Carnaval : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-JXkThMQvPQ&feature=related …. ( All the girls that look like this in Brazil are part black.)

Obama’s an asshole. See? Nothing racist in that statement. Use it wisely. Dumb f*cks.

What’s even funnier is the mental image I get of all them younguns in their Sunday best trying to hoist them melons.

So when do we get to have the seed-spitting contest? I can think of a few targets already.

Like has already been said so well, it’s not a sin, or degrading to enjoy watermelon or fried chicken. In fact, at work the other day we had a luncheon program for Black African-American History Month. On the menu? Fried chicken and soul food side dishes. And it was delicious.

One reason is of course the stereotype but more so is the fact I know it will drive liberals crazy. I tend to like anything that drives liberals crazy. That fact turns off the switch in me that says you shouldn’t laugh at that; that is wrong.