UC Irvine Admits Fried Chicken And Waffle Menu On MLK Day Was Insensitive

Students at the University of California-Irvine were irked when an on-campus dining facility served fried chicken and waffles in honor of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, reports the Daily Pilot.

The dinner came on the first night of the campus's 28th annual Martin Luther King Jr. symposium.

Although university representative Cathy Lawhon acknowledged that the decision to link the foods with MLK's name was insensitive, she said that the chef in question would not face disciplinary action from the university.

Lawhon said the Jan. 17 dinner was "put together at the last minute," according to the Los Angeles Times.

Regardless of intent, some students were offended by the nod to the culinary stereotype. "It's just another in a long line of small events on our campus that aren't meant to be taken in a certain way, but are at least questionable in their cultural legitimacy," Black Student Union director of communications John Murillo III told the Times.

The Times reports that dining service providers Aramark said they will offer cultural sensitivity training for chefs and managers in light of the event.

What do you think? An honest mistake, or a thoughtless gaffe? Weigh in below.

Comments

[czs5056]

09:01 AM on 02/24/2011

mmmmmmmmm, fried chicken *starts to drool*

[orangeboxx]

11:52 AM on 01/30/2011

We all know Martin loved his chicken and waffles.

[Konrad Klean]

11:12 AM on 01/29/2011

Honestly this was pretty insensitive. It would have taken the head chef about five minutes of google searching to find out that fried chicken, waffles, and watermelon aren't cultural staples of the culture. We're talking stupidity here, sheer and utter stupidity.

[edgermanJ]

10:58 AM on 01/29/2011

All UC Irvine really did was scoop "The Onion" on a great gag headline.

[CptFreakout]

06:07 AM on 01/29/2011

The great American past time whining about everything ! , if we spent less time and money crying about everything being racist sexist anti christian anti whatever and our courts starting throwing out crybaby lawsuits(thats the real fear) our country wouldn't be the mess it is .

[edgermanJ]

10:54 AM on 01/29/2011

Most of the legislators are lawyers so the chances of throwing out crybaby lawsuits are slim and none.

[RButler]

05:55 AM on 01/29/2011

I'm surprised at this.  I would have thought the chef had good intentions about serving this specific well-liked item instead of Wonder Bread and Velveeta cheese sandwiches. 
 
Should he have ignored the holiday and just made the usual menu or what? 

[buddy boy]

09:46 PM on 01/28/2011

Don't get it.... These are great foods.

[Reese Anderson]

04:51 PM on 01/28/2011

I grew up in the South, and have been around soul food, blacks, and whites all my life and yet was surprised to find out that the great fried chicken and waffles dish (that I have had only at a nice restaurant freqented by the avant garde) was even a soul food type item. I have heard most stereotypes and there should be an obection to something like watermelon, but the waffles and chicken is no more offensive than BBQ in this situation. The real message is, "don't f--- with the MLK holiday unless you are black", following of course shortly after " MLK should be a national holiday because it is important to all americans". I buy the latter and they are mutually exclusive.

[truthinperson]

11:50 AM on 01/28/2011

Nobody in the USA should be able to eat chicken and waffles on MLK day or during the month of February because it is a racist thing to eat.

[KDMac]

11:05 AM on 01/28/2011

Waffles?

[Montcalms Revenge]

10:46 AM on 01/28/2011

I guess this means no pork chops on Yom Kippur?... ;-)

[Toby Chislett]

06:19 AM on 01/28/2011

this is so ironic, the liberals trying to second guess the tyranny of political correctness, most things are stereotypical, what do afro american prefer to eat, chicken and waffles, just because MLK wasnt a stereotypical afro american, doesnt mean you need to surpress the afro american choice of diet for a day

[KDMac]

11:07 AM on 01/28/2011

I've never heard of waffles being linked with any stereotype, besides flip-flopping politicians.

[Michael Morrison]

01:03 PM on 01/28/2011

:-)

[anthonyparker80]

01:11 PM on 01/28/2011

You either huh ?

[Michael Morrison]

03:16 AM on 01/28/2011

The cafeteria would be obliged to serve tacos on Cinco de May and corned beef on St. Patrick's day. What's so offensive about chicken and waffles?

[Koeiseun]

10:10 PM on 01/28/2011

Good point!

[orangeboxx]

11:53 AM on 01/30/2011

No corned beef dinner on Saint Patrick's day! What are you trying to do here!

[czs5056]

09:03 AM on 02/24/2011

i think they are trying to hurt our feelings, don't worry though we'll get them back

[Michael Morrison]

03:04 AM on 01/28/2011

Insensitive??? It's good food.

One of L.A.'s favorite eateries is Roscoe's Chicken and Waffles.

[RButler]

05:52 AM on 01/29/2011

I live in LA county and I've been wanting to go there for years but it's quite a drive from my house. 

[Michael Morrison]

10:53 PM on 01/29/2011

I don't live in L.A., but make a point of going there whenever I am in town.

It's nothing earth shattering...Just good food and good service.

[DanSc]

02:30 AM on 01/28/2011

This makes me want chicken and waffles. A fork full of waffle helps the fried chicken go down.