[Hoot Gibson]

^It's not as much about black people fighting against the southern food stereotypes, it's people like HRV using fried chicken and watermelon as derogatory, racist terms associated with black people. I would bet that HRV has 0 black friends, or he couldn't use those terms associated with black people.

I understand that many black people are offended by references to fried chicken and watermelons but the truth is black people eat lots of fried chicken and watermelons and so do southern white people. So why are southern whites not offended by references to fried chicken, watermelons, moon pies and RC Cola? Indian people are not offended by references to curry or biryani. Koreans are proud of their fried chicken and kimchi, and Italians look down on American pizza. So why would any ethnic group not celebrate a food like fried chicken?

Something that most people do not know about central Mississippi is that tamales have been popular in the area for many years. There is a friendly debate over whether blacks or Mexicans introduced tamales to the Jackson area. The best tamales I have ever eaten came from Tony's Tamales in West Jackson and Tony is black. Tony sells tamales to several Mexican restaurants in Jackson.