Welcome to another episode of Civic Cipher. I'm your host, Rams's Jah.
A lot of people, including my co host, called me Q Ward and mostly that's because my name is Quentin, so Q is the short and then Ward is.
My last name. So that's just kind of how that whole thing came to be. Very thorough.
Indeed, stick around today's episode. We got a lot of cool stuff to talk about, some things you might not know and that you might want to know, including the story about watermelons and their relationship to black folks in this country. We're going to ask the question our watermelons racist, which I know, on his face sounds crazy, but trust me,
it's worth exploring a little. Later in the show, we're going to talk about a recent law that was put forth in Philadelphia concerning traffic stops and then wanting to ban non serious, non will use the word criminal traffic stops, and how feasible that approach to policing might be. Q and I are going to both adopt different sides and have a bit of a discussion with respect to that,
so definitely stick around for that. A way black history fact, We're going to check in with an article from PBS dot Org offered by Henry Lewis Gates Junior about forty acres and a mule. A lot of folks, as it turns out, are not familiar with that or have heard it and do not know how intricate it was and how well thought out it was, and so forth and so on. So you know, we have the show, so we're gonna make sure to share a little bit of
that with you. But first, like we always do at this time, we are going to discuss what we like to call some ebony excellence. Is that all right with UQ?
Yes, sir? All I do is win no matter what.
If you have Netflix, you might have seen an advertisement for a movie called The Harder They Fall. And the reason that we pick this for our ebony excellence is because, as it turns out, it is the number one streamed movie on Netflix. And that's something that we feel is quite an accomplishment. Historically in Hollywood, you know, when there's an all black cast, that's you know a lot of times people tend to shy away from those scripts. You know, they they try to alter them, you know, that sort
of thing. This is something that is very well known, you know, and then you know, money. It's often harder to come buy money for you know, black movies, we'll call them. But you know, with the stereotype being that on all black casts is a bad bet. We like to see movies like you know, Black Panther. We like to see movies like this one that really shine and really show that there's an interest in this type of filmmaking.
It's one of the few westerns where the cast members include black people, because a lot of folks don't even know that there were black cowboys, but you can, as you can imagine, at that time, you know, it was a lot easier to make your way, you know, if you're not in the Deep South, and maybe you're a
little bit more West if you're a black person. And another cool thing is that, although this is a fictional film, all the characters are based on real cowboys, lawmens, and outlaws of the nineteenth century American West, And so we wanted to take a moment to honor all those involved with that movie. Jay Z was one of the producers, and there's lots of neat little easter eggs that you know. One of the trains in the movie has Chadwick Boseman's name on it a lot of the shops, you know,
in the movies. You know, it's just a really awesome effort and artistic expression, and of course it brings some light to something a lot of folks know about. So have any excellence the hearder they fall. If you haven't seen it, be sure to check it out. Now onward, today we are going to talk about watermelons. That's that's such a that's such a funny thing. Now, okay, let me paint a picture for you. So let's say you're not a black person, right, you might be thinking, what's
wrong with the watermelon? They grow out of the ground. It's food. Human beings eat food that grow out of the ground all over the world. That's kind of what we do.
It's delicious.
Yeah, how about that? You know, But as it turns out, you know, there are some things that exist in our world by our I mean, you know, black folks, that are really the legacy of a very hurtful relationship that black folks have had with this country going all the way back to the beginning, and they still persist to
this day. And so recently I came across you know, I live in an older house, and you know, the people that owned this house before I bought it had some racist caricature black folks advertisements in the backyard, and I never discovered them. I lived here. This has been twelve years I've lived here. Never discovered them until recently because they're posted onto the back of a beam in
my backyard. Anyway, I saw this stuff and I was like, wow, you know, and then I saw, you know, there was a person with black skinned cartoon, big lips of course, and he has like a watermelon that's huge, and he's like smiling ear to ear, and I was like, you know what. At some point, I need to make sure that I discussed this with our listeners on the show. So a bit about certain types of foods. I'll tell
a personal story. I might have shared a bit of this before, but for those that don't know, Once upon a time, I was working at a radio station in Phoenix, Arizona, and I was the production director of this radio station. And I worked in a studio that was separate from the broadcast studios. Right, So there was three studios, two for broadcast excuse me, one for production where I made
the radio commercials. I did the imaging. I basically made everything that wasn't a song or wasn't a jock talking live, and that was my job. Everyone knew that that was my studio, and I know it belonged to the station, but there were all my posters up in there, all my magazine covers, you know, because I was a jock too. But that was where I spent most of my my day.
So it wasn't there all the time. I had, you know, my creature comforts in there, and then whoever needed to come in the studio and use it with me, I was the one recording their voice. Outside of that, it was my studio. One day, I there was a recent changing of the guard at the radio station. And then, you know, one day right after that, I walked into my studio and I saw a banana on the mixer. The mixer is the big sort of device with all
the buttons and faders in a recording studio. So I had one of those as well because I had to you know, mix the mics and so forth. There's a banana sitting right on there. When I walked into the room, and immediately my heart sank, and immediately I felt like, oh my god, I don't know if I should be afraid, angry. You know what action I should take? How do I you know? Because this felt very personal. It felt like an attack on my character and who I am, and
an attack on my ancestors. You know, it's just it's just, you know. And for those that don't know, walking into a studio and seeing a banana there, you would naturally think maybe somebody left their banana there. It never even entered into my mind.
It never.
When I saw that banana, I knew for a fact that somebody it might have been the owner, and somebody left that for me to see, because it was right there, right in front of my seat, right where I couldn't miss it. And you know, when I say that, my heart sank in that. You know, that gripping fear, that paralytic fear that you feel when you are walking down the street and you see like a vicious dog in front of you with no chain and no one around, like, oh my god, okay, I need to figure out what
I need to do. It was that moment for me, and immediately I turned around, even walk into the room, I turned right back around and let the door close, and I went into the UH program director's office. Somebody who I felt like was a friend of mine. I still feel like that guy is a friend of mine. I didn't assume that it was him so to help paint that picture. He was always a good man to me. You know, it felt like a good man. He felt like like an ally, like the sort of person that
would listen to this show. So I went into his office and I says, hey, man, I don't know what is going on here, but somebody just did something that was really out of pocket. And he's like, what are you talking about. I was like, come here, let me show you. And then he got up and he went and he saw it and he had no idea. He's like, what am I looking for? I'm like, do you see
the banana there on the console? And then when I pointed it out to him, because he had seen it, but when I pointed it out to him, he was like, uh oh, And he's like, I don't know what this is. I have no idea here. Let me get this out of your way, let me figure it out. Please don't worry about it. Right. So this is why I say I felt like he was a kind man. That was the reaction I would have expected from him, not that I was expecting anything, but he just seemed like that
sort of a person. Anyway, he took the banana and he kind of said some kind words to kind of provide a sense of like I'm going to protect you. You know, for those that don't know, a program director is the boss of my position at that time, which would have been a production director and a jock. So he goes to his office and he does a little bit of research, and maybe an hour later he puts
it all together. He's like, hey, as it turns out, the morning show guy needed to go into the studio to cut a promo, so he used your studio to do it because he had to make way for the afternoon or sorry, the midday woman to do her show, So he used your studio and that was part of his breakfast. And he just forgot it. You know, he was riding his motorcycle that day. He just forgot it. He just grabbed his helmet and this and that and
the third and he just left it there. I don't think that it was anything directed toward you, so all was right with the world. But I think that that story illuminates just how jarring our meaning black folks relationship to food can be when it's observed through the lens of other races, and other races have the same type
of these same types of issues. You know, foods are closely associated with culture, and if there's some way to pick on a culture, you know, usually it's the most obvious ones, you know, physical features, with the way people dress, what they eat, and so forth. Right, But you know, this is so that we can explain our experience to folks who might not otherwise know. Now, that was a banana,
and obviously, or maybe it's not so obvious. The connection there is that historically, based on bogus science that was used to further subjugate and to justify subjugate black folks and justify slavery, bananas were used to or black folks rather were associated with more closely with you know, apes and monkeys and things like this. Two kind of create a bit of a divide between real humans quote unquote and lesser beings so as to justify our servitude, you know,
at that point in time. And so this is why you'll if you watch you know, soccer games, you know, World Cup things like this, you know, if there's a black team or black player that's doing really well, you know, they'll throw bananas on the field because what they're trying to do is make a connection between black people and monkeys. And I'm not going to pretend like, you know, us having brown skin, and you know many of you know, many apes having you know, a brown color to their
fur or whatever. You know, it's it's just a silly connection and a juvenile connection that people make, especially folks that wake up early in the morning, get dressed, pack a banana in their kit, and then go to the game with the specific intention of throwing it as soon as a black person, you know, scores a goal or whatever. So these things are based in history, so you know,
hence my reaction walking into my studio scening banana. Now we're we could talk about mot liquor, we could talk about you know, fried chicken, you know, and and maybe on later shows we will, but you know, today the research was done on watermelon. So allow me to share one thing that I know to be true. And you and I've talked about this before. Q. There's a song, the ice Cream Truck song. Remember we talked about this, So the ice cream Truck song was called Inward Love
of Watermelon. So next time you hear the ice cream truck, you know, coming down the street, just know that the actual melody from that music was originally pinned in the title of that song was called in word love of Watermelon. Now the name changed after that once the in word
fell out of fashion or whatever. But the reason that that song became associated with ice cream trucks is because once upon a time, you know, whenever there were treats given out, ice cream went to white folks and watermelon went to black folks because it was cheaper, you know whatever, And so it became known as like kind of the black man's or the black man's ice cream, you know,
the negro's ice cream. And this is why you see these these caricatures, these these drawings, these cartoons, like the ones that I've in my backyard, these black folks holding a huge watermelon being so happy when they eat it. Right, It's like it was known as the equivalent of what ice cream would because many obviously many black folks back in this time never were able to taste ice cream because it was too much of a delicacy, or otherwise
it was too expensive. Watermelons were cheaper. But another thing about this is that and I pulled this from the Atlantic. There's an article written by William R. Black and I'll read this and I want to hear your thoughts. Cu it goes. But the stereotype that African Americans are excessively fond of watermelon emerged for a specific historical reason and served a specific political purpose. This is an addition to, you know, white folks eating ice cream, black folks eating watermelon.
So I'll continue. The trope came in full first when slaves won their emancipation during the Civil War. Free black people grew ate and sold watermelons, and in doing so made the fruit a symbol of their freedom. Southern whites, threatened by blacks newfound freedom, responded by making the fruit a symbol of black people's perceived uncleanliness, laziness, childishness, and
unwanted public presence. This racist trope then exploded in American popular culture, becoming so pervasive that its historical origin became obscure. Few Americans in nineteen hundred would have guessed the stereotype was less than half a century old, and what they would do. And just so you know, watermelons haven't always just been associated with black people. It's been associated with other types of people, Arab people, you know, and typically
it's associated with poor folks. And you know, the way that it's been politicized is, you know, you're going to have you know, watermelon rinds in your neighborhood all over the streets if you allow these folks to come in, or if you don't clean up this mess, or whatever the case is. But in this country, you know, this represented economic freedom or you know, economic advancement we'll call it.
And poor Southern whites obviously didn't like that. Still don't you know, like that a lot if you know their voting records or anything to go by. And really, at that time, and I believe largely today as well, you can make a case for it really needed, really needed
someone to blame their economic problems on. That wasn't the government, because how in the world could you criticize the government, you know, But let's blame these folks taking up all the jobs, you know, and doing whatever, selling their watermelons and making their little bit of money and creating some sort of economic independence from us, rather than coming to work for us or coming to you know, whatever it is.
And so we end up with now fast forward. The legacy of these ideas and the legacy of these stereotypes results in people nowadays eating watermelon not in plain view of someone who might not appreciate the fact that it's just food. Now you listening, you might think, why in the world would I think anything other than it's just a food, And that's a person eating their lunch or whatever,
which makes perfect sense. And my hat's off to you because you've either managed to escape, you know, being indoctrinated in this way, or you know, you just maybe you really just don't see it that way. And maybe a lot of people don't see it that way, but there are some people that do see it that way. You know, we saw lots of these cartoons with you know, watermelon flavor, toothpaste, you know, when Obama was in office, and you know,
these things still exist. You know, they're they're deeply rooted in the American history and American legacy and American psyche, but they also exist for us, for black folks. You know, I didn't, I wouldn't I. You know, banana is a banana. If you like bananas, that stands to reason other human beings or creatures that share this planet will like bananas too, Same with fried chicken, same with watermelon, same with anything.
You know, we're all the same, you know, from a scientific standpoint, meaning that we all consume foods, eat them. You know, they nourish our bodies, and they fortify us and allow us to live full lives. But far be it for me to ever eat a banana in front of a white person who doesn't appreciate the fact that it's truly just a banana and a human being eating it.
I would be so. I would be so ashamed to do that right now, at thirty nine years old, you know I would, or else I would have to break a piece of it off and eat it like this. I couldn't peel it and a hold it in the hand the way that a person might imagine a monkey would do. So I want to get your reaction to this que because I'm not sure how much of this you knew. I knew you knew about the watermelon song, but you know, I want to get your thoughts. We got about four minutes.
But once upon a time, during my residency at a property I won't name as, I showed up to DJ now at this place, the turntables, the DJ booth were set up on a stage, and on that stage they had created sort of like a little lounge for me, couches and the table, and I would come in and my food would be there, my food and whatever I wanted to drink for me and my guests, whoever came with me. And the first time I showed up because because I don't drink, I made food a part of my writer.
Instead of alcohol.
And the first time I showed up at this place where I was, you know, in two thousand and maybe twelve or thirteen, the only black person in the establishment. The food that was waiting for me was fried chicken and watermelon.
Wow.
Now this was a really tough spot for me to be in because, as everybody is that's listening to this show knows, fried chicken and watermelon is incredible.
It's delicious.
It's half nutritious, but mostly it's delicious, and similar to what you just said, I'm on stage, so I don't want to sit on stage in this venue full of people that aren't black and eat chicken and watermelon on stage like I'm the show, right, And don't think the chef meant for that to feel how it felt when I got there, okay. But as you know, it absolutely felt exactly how you think it felt when I walked into this place and they're serving me fried chicken and watermelon.
And my options were to laugh really hard or start flipping tables over.
So I chose to laugh really hard. And similar to.
The racist portrayal of watermelon, the foods in and of themselves are not racist, but in Jim Crow America, in a way to make newly free black people look like savage animals, there was all these cartoons and caricatures and drawings and paintings that showed us very delightfully and ostentatiously eating chicken and watermelon, with the juices flying everywhere, and us in this delight of carelessness and.
As they would portray it somehow savagery.
And it wasn't that just that watermelon was inexpensive, but it was what you touched on earlier. Watermelon at that time gave us a way to grow something for ourselves, to consume it, to sell it, to have some sort of entrepreneurship, business acumen, and independence. So let's make that
bad too, right, Let's make that evil. Let's make that bad, Let's make that grotesque, Let's make that somehow beneath us, and let's make fun of them, right, Let's exaggerate all their features, and let's show the world how these savage animals look when they're eating their chicken and watermelon, and really make a show of it. So yeah, I mean, I really am just echoing things that you've said already. It's just food, and in this case, really really good food.
Right.
Fried chicken might be the most sold food item on earth, especially in this country, and we're thirteen percent of the population.
So please don't think it just black people eating it.
Right, But that trope has lasted the test of time, as have so many things from that period in our history that was made to look that was created to make us look beneath and somehow less than and somehow less civilized and more savage and more.
Simple, if you will.
Yeah, yeah, so I know exactly what you mean. You know, there's it's come up before, and you know, I think Dave Chappelle mentioned it. He's like, you know, all this time I thought I like chicken because it was delicious. Comes to turn out I'm genetically predisposed to lack of chicken, you know, Like, just to make a joke out of it.
So anyway, I'm glad we got a chance to touch on that, and just something to keep in mind, you know, just something to be sensitive about, and you know, we'll get where we're going, so not not too much to worry about. But our job is to teach, so that's what we do. Anyway, stick around your radios. We're coming back with more Civic Cipher right after this