Today we remember the life and legacy of Martin Luther King, Jr., but also it’s an opportunity to honor the incredible sacrifice so many people of color and their allies made to bring us closer to equal justice under the law.
Our food, an aspect of our culture that all southerners point to when defining our region, also served as a dividing line for much of our history. For too long, racism kept white southerners from having black southerners share their meals at the table, even though they were almost certainly cooking and serving them.
This is the fraught legacy of southern food.
Our food is nourishing, it holds memories, it brings people together, it reminds us of home and family, yet its legacy, like everything else in the south, is tainted with the stains of oppression and segregation. I think the young people who sat at the counter that day in Greensboro knew the power of food, the power of sharing a meal with others, and how our identities are shaped by what and how we eat. They knew that food can bring us together even while other things tear us apart. I take heart knowing that eating together at the table is one of the most integral traditions in our region, but know that in order to reach King’s idea of the Beloved Community, our food must be shared and eaten together across our lines of difference. I hope that Mess of Greens gives me a chance to share my attempts as a white woman to confront our shared history and be honest about it, while bringing people together to eat and look to the future.
We can’t look ahead before we look back, though. It isn’t pretty, y’all, but if we’re honest – if we take a hard, real look at where we’ve been and what role we’ve played and are playing in the south’s own mess – we can make change.
Happy Martin Luther King, Jr. Day.
