I know I haven't blogged in a bit because I've been on my writing grind, but I just received this in my inbox, and I HAD to bring this to your attention.
I'm not sure if this occurred all across the country, but last week Wednesday, customers flooded popular fast-food chicken franchise Popeye's in order to take advantage of their "8 for $4.99" campaign. (Yeah, I thought it too... what, no watermelon smoothie on the side?)
Watch this video to see how reporters in Rochester, New York covered the event. Notice anything wrong?
Yes, if you can't sense the covert-yet-obvious-as-daylight racism in this news package, then you're out of your mind. Now, I'm not mad at Popeye's or the consumers. We are in Recessive times, and families SHOULD take advantage of any opportunity to feed their kids. Kudos to Popeye's for providing that. However, I do have a problem with the reporting. First of all, reporters CHOOSE the soundbytes to include in their stories. Do you think it was really appropriate for the reporter to depict Black people as if we're going to ABSOLUTLY DIE IF WE DON'T GET THAT BUCKET OF CHICKEN?! (Come on now, it's not that serious). Secondly, only Black people eat Popeye's? I work in downtown Manhattan, and whenever I do stop in a Popeye's, the crowd is always racially mixed. I'm pretty sure if the cameraman and reporter had dipped harder in that drive through line, they would've found some irate, rosy or olive-hued faces in their cards demanding chicken as well. Or maybe they DID find them, and chose not to include them in the clip? Hmmm...
Think about it, and get back to me with your comments. -- Crys Breezy
