Roasting Col. Sanders

GURPS

INGSOC
PREMO Member
In September 2019, we received multiple inquiries from readers regarding an old story about the origins of the famous KFC original recipe — the blend of herbs and spices that went into creating “Colonel” Harland Sanders’ original Kentucky Fried Chicken.

The African Diaspora Facebook page wrote: “Meet Mrs. Childress. Colonel Sanders Stole His Famous Fried Chicken Recipe From A Black Woman Named Mrs. Childress. He later paid her $1,200 for her recipe. KFC is worth 15 Billion Dollars today.” That text was accompanied by the following image:

60016937_2344162525648729_974509031282442240_n.jpg



While Ozersky cited no specific act of intellectual property theft on the part of Sanders, he did allude to the racial tensions and cultural appropriation involved in the development of fried chicken in the early 20th century American South, writing that Sanders embodied the following “paradox”:

“Anyone who knew anything of the South knew that no Kentucky colonel would have cooked the fried chicken in a southern household; the chicken in prosperous southern households, particularly in the Colonel’s era, was inevitably cooked by a black maid or family housekeeper. Colonel Sanders created an alternative reality in which the white planter not only ate the chicken but implicitly made it. Nothing could have been further from the truth.”

We also put the “Miss Childress” story to Psyche Williams-Forson, chair of the department of American Studies at the University of Maryland College Park, an expert in the interaction of food, cultural history and women’s studies and author of the 2006 book “Building Houses Out of Chicken Legs: Black Women, Food and Power.”

She told us she had found “no direct evidence that Colonel Sanders ‘stole’ the KFC recipe from an African American woman,” and had come across no information that indicated Sanders later paid the woman $1,200 under pressure from her family.


https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/colonel-sanders-kfc-miss-childress/





Ah Yes Cultural Appropriation Fantasy,. Supposition and Innuendo
 

Smokey1

Well-Known Member
Ah Yes Cultural Appropriation Fantasy,. Supposition and Innuendo

Why is it not cultural appropriation when people from non western cultures use western cultural items and practices? "Cultural appropriation" seems to go only one way.
 

This_person

Well-Known Member
So, a business man started a company that made food with a recipe that the business man himself did not create?

That's somehow a story?
 

Rommey

Well-Known Member
Even if true, the $1200 (assuming it was paid in the late-30's) would represent nearly five times the median yearly income for a black woman in 1939.
 

GregV814

Well-Known Member
Don’t get me started on “Uncle Ben”, “Aunt Jemima” and that damned militaristic Tetley Tea Captain!!!

Oh, and that snarky Popeyes chicken lady!!!
 

SamSpade

Well-Known Member
I'd read his bio before - and the man had a hard life, to put it mildly. Even on Wiki, it looks - miserable. Got a job, fired. Buy a business - depression. Buy another - burned down. A rough life. Someone trying to suggest this guy was some pinkie raising Southerner living high on the hog most of his life - he could very well have ended his life wretched and poor. He got lucky.

He didn't even begin KFC until 65 which he started with his Social Security checks, although he'd had his KFC recipe around for a while.

Yeah, the story doesn't square with reality - I'm not buying it.
 

GregV814

Well-Known Member
The story needs no credibility, you know that.. it’s the allegation! Look, a white old man from the South victimized a struggling black woman!!! It’s the redundant theme!! I say knock down all statues of Harlan, foreclose all KFC stores and pay reparations!!!!
 

Hijinx

Well-Known Member
I believe the only thing culturally stolen was his alleged rank of Kentucky Colonel.


P.S. I always get a kick out of going to Florida and seeing signs that say Maryland Fried Chicken.
 

Yooper

Up. Identified. Lase. Fire. On the way.
Fake news :yawn:
We need a new term that goes beyond "fake news."

This sort of stuff, like the recent Kavanaugh stuff ("no actual evidence, but it rings true" BS), is so far past "fake news" that "fake news" no longer cuts it. "Lies" and "false" have been diluted to mean nothing, so what can we come up with?

"Opprobrium" doesn't quite fit and is too hard to pronounce.

"Calumny" is my choice, but it just doesn't resonate.

--- End of line (MCP)
 

vraiblonde

Board Mommy
PREMO Member
Patron
We need a new term that goes beyond "fake news."

This sort of stuff, like the recent Kavanaugh stuff ("no actual evidence, but it rings true" BS), is so far past "fake news" that "fake news" no longer cuts it. "Lies" and "false" have been diluted to mean nothing, so what can we come up with?

"Opprobrium" doesn't quite fit and is too hard to pronounce.

"Calumny" is my choice, but it just doesn't resonate.

--- End of line (MCP)

Slander and libel come to mind.... In the real world of us peons, that's what it's called and it's a criminal act.
 

Yooper

Up. Identified. Lase. Fire. On the way.
Slander and libel come to mind.... In the real world of us peons, that's what it's called and it's a criminal act.
Agreed. But these terms are now essentially meaningless, both in public discourse and in law.

Yes, this Sanders thing is just silly. But it's part of an overall strategy to deconstruct/destroy civil society. Further, when focused on more important/current "targets" it's no longer silly it's maliciously evil. Dem candidates, for example, can stand up on stage during their debates and claim Trump is racist and there's no recourse. People can make baseless accusations "like Kavanaugh is a rapist" and there's no apparent recourse. Why? Because a) these are public figures and b) the standards of proof are both ridiculously high and obtuse.

"Racist" and "rapist" are two of the worst accusations imaginable. And slander and libel of this sort used to be "let's meet to settle this" offenses. But there seems to no longer be any recourse; folks make baseless accusations and their targets just have to take it.

It's awful. Simply. Awful.

--- End of line (MCP)
 

jazz lady

~*~ Rara Avis ~*~
PREMO Member
P.S. I always get a kick out of going to Florida and seeing signs that say Maryland Fried Chicken.
I've seen those in Myrtle Beach. Never went in. What is it, fried chicken with Old Bay on it?
Interestingly enough, it was created to directly compete with Colonel Sanders and his chicken.


And now you know...the rest of the story. 🐔
 

vraiblonde

Board Mommy
PREMO Member
Patron
I've seen those in Myrtle Beach. Never went in. What is it, fried chicken with Old Bay on it?

No, it's just normal fried chicken. Although fried chicken with OB sounds delicious....

A friend from Florida was like, "Is MD famous for fried chicken?" I said not that I know of, and he informed me that they had Maryland Fried Chicken chains all over FL. He'd never eaten at one, so we met in Myrtle Beach and gave it a try. It's was pretty good, but not Chaptico Market good.
 
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