Well, that’s embarrassing.

Although I was grown before I ever knew watermelons had a racial connotation. They were something Granddaddy grew among the corn, always had on the front porch in season, and that gave me (ahem…) digestive problems when I ate too much, which was always.

Unnnnbaweeeebable!

My, oh, my! I’ll bet the government-run alphabet media is really going to crucify ol’ Danny boy for this! I also bet that unicorns will be grazing on my lawn in the morning and I’ll have to close the blinds on the west side to shut out all the light from the rising sun.

FW Ken, if I remember correctly (and for a change I do) one should have been warned of drinking milk, AFTER eating watermelon.. I didn’t believe it until I tried it, and sure enough my “grandmother” was right..

LOL
Grandmother in SC

OH PLEASE. WATERMELONS is not a racist word–WATERMELONS is a very popular fruit that is very common in the southern states. At one time there was a very common expression–”couldn’t sell watermelons”.

I for one want to know how to go about getting the hate speech laws repealed!

There is more racism created by the fear of stumbling over possible code words than there is racial hatred. I have not doubt that there are still a few people with strong racial attitudes in each ethnic group–but, so be it. Let the listener respond according to his/her personal level of offense.

We begin to take back our freedom when we regain our right to free speech.

Seriously, someone! The entire country has lost its sense of humor. Our language is being depleted of all the wonderful word-pictures which Americans use so reflexively. I intensely dislike Dan Rather. I think the people who are all wound up about “watermelons” on anyone’s tongue should get a life.

Do you remember the uproar last month about NBC (I think) having a black history month special menu at the cafeteria? All hell broke loose, and it turned out the person who thought fried chicken and collards should be served was a black employee who thought it sounded like great food!

So Grandmother, was I supposed to drink milk after watermelon, or abstain? I have to tell you I never drank milk after melon, or any other time I could avoid it. All I remember is spending an inordinate amount of time in the outhouse (a three-holer, thank goodness).

We have Black History celebrations in our agency every February, and the menu is usually some variation on Fried Chicken, Roast Chicken, greens (gross!), stewed vegetables, rolls and just about everything my white family had for Sunday lunch.

Oh! And peach cobbler. Heaven on earth!

The only folks in America more obsessed with race than the modern liberals were the slave owners of the ante-bellum South. They both insisted on knowing exactly who has black blood and how much, because it makes a difference to them how you treat people.

FW Ken: A three-holer! Wow! I bow in admiration. My grandmother only had a two-holer complete with last year’s Sears catalog. Family togetherness and quality time had “hole” different meanings back in them days.

My grandparents had a two-holer. My husband’s, two-holer as well. He learned the hard wayvwhy you kept the seat in the house during the winter.

Dan Rather-not has been an self-important, ultraliberal idiot as far back as I can remember. I did find everyone trying to talk over him interesting.

Dan rather is an unprincipled weasel. I don’t give a rosy rat’s patootie about anything he has to say.

I had respect for Rather during the Viet Nam era when he was reporting from the field. Since that time he seems to have lost his bearings. He is an angry person. I am the last one to embrace PC language but he too easily linked selling watermelons with Mr. Obama. The other panelists immediately understood and attempted to talk over his comments.

Katherine,

I think that fried chicken and collard greens are good eating. It’s just Southern comfort food, no matter where your ancestors came from. GRIN

Anna, that’s pretty much what the woman who created the menu said. “Soul food” and Southern comfort food are close to the same thing, and it’s not negative to say so. Good grief. And just think of the bad reputation watermelon is getting!

I can’t believe he made up that expression “couldn’t sell watermelons”. It must be some kind of colloquial expression. So the real question is whether it was a colloquial expression with racial connotations.

Hey folks we are coming up on St. Patrick’s day soon. What the heck do you think about all those racial slurs against the Irish? Geez ain’t we got fun!

For what it’s worth, and it’s not worth much, a watermelon is a berry. Learned it from a children’s science book. Maybe useful in bar room trivia.

Want another great piece of trivia? Who threw two no-hitters in a single season but still had a losing season? Answer: Vergil (Virgil?) Trucks who played for the Tigers back in the fifties. If memory serves me right, his record was 5 and 14: two no-hitters, one one-hitter, one two-hitter and the fifth just a regular outing. That’s about all I can contribute to this serious discussion

Watermelon has berry, berry good to me!

Although, I did follow my mother’s advice about NO ice cream after watermelon and managed to avoid the experiences of others on this thread.

dw,
I believe you meant Chico Escuela to say, “Watermelon has been berry berry good to me!”