Is this racist?

No, but considering Cincinnati's stellar record regarding race relations, I'd be more apt to question it there than in other places.

Its not racist. Just damn good eatin'.

Fried chicken.

Mmmmmmm.

So the banquet ended up being a sad affair as three people were let go for not getting back to work fast enough. The cleaners were told that while the announced job cuts at the airport shouldn't effect their department, the pay increase and insurance benefits that were promised to them were cancelled.
Turns out the banquet wasn't racist, just plain insulting, as in,"Good job. No, you aren't getting the raise I promised you. But here's some fried chicken."
I supposed that's what happens when there's no union.
The menu was in fact the cheapest dish that they serve at banquets as some people guessed. They didn't end up serving pork chops because someone else complained that they thought that the menu was racist too. The second meat was an odd mystery loaf that supposedly had pork in it. They did offer grape soda but also offered other beverages.
My boss said that all of them were being lied too. The company that contracted the cleaners were going to be let go in a month and then other company plans to subcontract those jobs directly with the contract cleaners' company. I'm trying to avoid saying exactly what the actual names of the companies involved are, but since the company is based out of an airport, it won't be that hard to figure out who I'm referring to.
I think that I was right about it being pretty fucking insulting to the cleaners, just not the racist menu part. The cleaners themselves always tell us other workers in the airport that their bosses are racists, but that goes without sayinng. They still ate as much as they could since it was free.
I took home about 20 pieces of chicken, half of a chocolate cake and two cases of sprite. I passed on the mystery loaf.
One final thought. The menu and food itself weren't necessarily racist. It's pretty obvious that a fried chicken leg doesn't have a racial preference as to who ingests it. But it's the sentiment behind the banquet and what their bosses were actually whispering to each other as they watched the hired hands eat the feast placed before them.
They don't have to give these people the respect of a decent wage or benefits. They'll just buy them off with a half-assed meal and more empty promises. They look at the mostly black cleaners as a disposable resource to be gotten rid of at their whim and discretion. What's racist is that someone had a meeting about two weeks ago trying to figure out how to keep "those people" working hard without really giving them anything of value and they came up with fried chicken and pork chops.

[Edited on Sep 15, 2005 by whip76]

that's a shame. my heart goes out to them. that IS insulting, without a doubt.

[Edited on Sep 15, 2005 by STURANIUM_235]

Almost forgot. you misquoted me i said it was pretty fucking insulting after reading your comments..., nope on second thought I'll just prove to be the better man and simply believe you read the original statement wrong and flew off the handle over that.


[Edited on Sep 15, 2005 by whip76]

[Edited on Sep 15, 2005 by whip76]

oh yeah ... that is pretty fuckin funny

Yes, sorry that I misquoted - I was really just interested in the use of the word fucking, i thought you were getting awfully wound up over chicken. Then it comes right back to hit me on the face. I'm sorry about the banquet. My insults were meant in a light hearted way, strange as that seems, and I thought this was just some random party they airport was having. In light of what actually happened I now feel like a bit of a dick. With a bit more detail on the story, racism doesn't actually seem unfeasable. Sorry.

[Edited on Sep 15, 2005 by Doomph]

dude that sucks big time.

You're correct. I wasn't referring to far reaching consequences, just the effect on discourse. I'll make that clearer next time.