The fried chicken stereotype is an anti-African American racist trope that has its roots in the American Civil War and traditional slave foods.
The popularity of fried chicken in the Southern United States and its portrayal in films like The Birth of a Nation contributed to the development of this stereotype. Restaurants such as Sambo's and Coon Chicken Inn further commercialized the stereotype through their mascots. Though fried chicken is now also celebrated as soul food, its association with African American culture is sometimes considered a sensitive issue.
Public figures like Tiger Woods have been targeted with fried chicken-related remarks, and organizations have been criticized for serving it during Black History Month or making racially insensitive references.
Since the American Civil War, traditional slave foods like fried chicken, watermelon, and chitterlings have suffered a strong association with stereotypes of African Americans and blackface minstrelsy. [1] The reasons for this are various. Chicken dishes were popular among enslaved people before the American Civil War, as chickens were generally the only animals enslaved people were allowed to raise on their own. [2] Race and folklore professor Claire Schmidt attributes the stereotype both to the popularity of fried chicken in the cuisine of the Southern United States and to a scene from the film The Birth of a Nation in which a rowdy African American man is seen eating fried chicken in a legislative hall. [3] The stereotype was commercialized in the 20th century by restaurants like Sambo's and Coon Chicken Inn, which selected exaggerated depictions of Black people as mascots, implying quality by their association with the stereotype. Although also being acknowledged positively as "soul food" today, the affinity that African American culture has for fried chicken has been considered by some to be a delicate, often pejorative issue.[ citation needed ]
On two occasions, the golfer Tiger Woods has been the target of remarks regarding fried chicken. [4] The first occurred in 1997 when golfer Fuzzy Zoeller said that Woods should avoid choosing fried chicken and collard greens for the Masters Tournament Champions' Dinner the following year; [5] the second when golfer Sergio García was asked in a press conference in 2013 whether he would invite Woods to dinner during the U.S. Open to settle their ongoing feud. García, a Spaniard who was unaware of the existence of the stereotype in American culture, committed a gaffe, saying: "We will have him round every night ... We will serve fried chicken", which Woods said was "wrong, hurtful and clearly inappropriate". [5] Both Zoeller and García subsequently apologized to Woods in each case. [5]
Various groups and organizations have been criticized for serving fried chicken during Black History Month, [6] [7] making references to "Obama Fried Chicken" [8] [9] and other racial stereotypes associated with the food. [10]
Soul food is the ethnic cuisine of African Americans. Originating in the American South from the cuisines of African slaves transported to the Thirteen Colonies during the colonial history of the United States, soul food is closely associated with the cuisine of the Southern United States. The expression "soul food" originated in the mid-1960s when "soul" was a common word used to describe African-American culture. Soul food uses cooking techniques and ingredients from West African, Central African, Western European, and Indigenous cuisine of the Americas.
The cuisine of the Southern United States encompasses diverse food traditions of several subregions, including cuisine of Southeastern Native American tribes, Tidewater, Appalachian, Ozarks, Lowcountry, Cajun, Creole, African American cuisine and Floribbean, Spanish, French, British, and German cuisine. In recent history, elements of Southern cuisine have spread to other parts of the United States, influencing other types of American cuisine.
KFC Corporation, doing business as KFC, is an American fast food restaurant chain that specializes in fried chicken. Headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky, it is the world's second-largest restaurant chain after McDonald's, with over 30,000 locations globally in 150 countries as of April 2024. The chain is a subsidiary of Yum! Brands, a restaurant company that also owns the Pizza Hut and Taco Bell chains.
The Story of Little Black Sambo is a children's book written and illustrated by Scottish author Helen Bannerman and published by Grant Richards in October 1899. As one in a series of small-format books called The Dumpy Books for Children, the story was popular for more than half a century.
Sambo is a derogatory label for a person of African descent in the Spanish language. Historically, it is a name in American English derived from a Spanish term for a person of African and Native American ancestry. After the Civil War, during and after the Jim Crow era the term was used in conversation, print advertising and household items as a pejorative descriptor for black people. The term is now considered offensive in American and British English.
Coon may refer to:
Dirty rice is a traditional Louisiana Creole dish made from white rice which gets a "dirty" color from being cooked with small pieces of pork, beef or chicken, green bell pepper, celery, and onion, and spiced with cayenne and black pepper. Parsley and chopped green onions are common garnishes. Dirty rice is most common in the Creole regions of southern Louisiana; however, it can also be found in other areas of the American South and referenced as "chicken and rice," "Cajun rice," or "rice dressing".
Rastus is a pejorative term traditionally associated with African Americans in the United States. It is considered offensive.
Coon Chicken Inn was an American chain of three restaurants that was founded by Maxon Lester Graham and Adelaide Burt in 1925, which prospered until the late 1950s. The restaurant's name contained the word Coon, considered a racial slur, and the trademarks and entrances of the restaurants were designed to look like a smiling caricature of an African American porter. The smiling capped porter head also appeared on menus, dishes, and promotional items. Due to changes in popular culture and the general consideration of being culturally and racially offensive, the chain was closed by 1957.
Stereotypes of African Americans are misleading beliefs about the culture of people with partial or total ancestry from any black racial groups of Africa whose ancestors resided in the United States since before 1865. These stereotypes are largely connected to the racism and the discrimination faced by African Americans. These beliefs date back to the slavery of black people during the colonial era and they have evolved within American society over time.
Fried chicken, also called Southern fried chicken, is a dish consisting of chicken pieces that have been coated with seasoned flour or batter and pan-fried, deep fried, pressure fried, or air fried. The breading adds a crisp coating or crust to the exterior of the chicken while retaining juices in the meat. Broiler chickens are most commonly used.
Frank Urban "Fuzzy" Zoeller Jr. is an American professional golfer who has won ten PGA Tour events including two major championships. He is one of three golfers to have won the Masters Tournament in his first appearance in the event. He also won the 1984 U.S. Open, which earned him the 1985 Bob Jones Award.
The watermelon stereotype is an anti-Black racist trope originating in the Southern United States. It first arose as a backlash against African American emancipation and economic self-sufficiency in the late 1860s.
Chicken in the Rough, also known as Beverly's Chicken in the Rough, is a fried chicken restaurant chain and former franchise. It was one of the earliest restaurant chain franchises in the United States. Chicken in the Rough was founded by Beverly and Rubye Osborne in 1936 in Oklahoma City, and the restaurant's specialty, half a fried chicken dish, was also created in 1936. The dish itself was also referred to as "Chicken in the Rough", and consisted of half a fried chicken, shoestring potatoes and a biscuit with honey. Three restaurants presently serve the dish today, located in Oklahoma City, Port Huron, Michigan and Canadian neighbor Sarnia, Ontario. The chain's logo was an image of a rooster smoking a cigar and carrying a golf club. The chain also used a logo of "Chicken's Caddie", which depicted a chick acting as a golf caddie, stating "I'll gladly be fried for Chicken in the Rough".
Wash's Restaurant, later called Wash & Sons' Seafood Restaurant, Wash's Inn, and Wash's Catering, was an African-American family-owned and operated soul food restaurant that was in business for over 70 years, first in Atlantic City and then in Pleasantville, New Jersey. Established by Clifton and Alma Washington at 35 N. Kentucky Avenue, Atlantic City, in 1937, the original 20-seat location attained celebrity status for hosting the performers and patrons of the nightclubs in the Kentucky Avenue black entertainment district. The restaurant was known for its sausage sandwiches and soul food, and also served breakfast to customers leaving the 6 a.m. show at Club Harlem.
Kee's Loaded Kitchen is a soul food restaurant in Portland, Oregon.
Chicken and Guns is a restaurant with two locations in the U.S. state of Oregon. The restaurant operates a food cart in Portland, and the brick-and-mortar Smokehouse Chicken and Guns opened in Gales Creek in 2023.