As I reported last Cinco de Seis, shortening the word guacamole to guac is racist. That public service message was un pequeño paso para el hombre. The information that follows is un paso gigantesco para la humanidad. (OK, no more Español, I promise.)
Cognizant of the fact that we gringos have a long way to go in assimilating to the soon-to-be dominant culture in the U.S., the University of Kentucky has gotten out ahead of the curve and is offering a course in “taco literacy.”
The complete title of the course is “Taco Literacy: Public Advocacy and Mexican Food in the US South ” and according to Eater.com it counts toward a degree.
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The teacher, Steven Alvarez, is quoted as saying:
This class allows our students to explore the issues of immigration, inequality, workers, intercultural communication, and literacy through the prism of food.
Too bad. For a minute there, it sounded like it might be fun.
One issue that is not explored in the Eater.com piece, which is derived in part from an interview with Alvarez at a website called Munchies, is how the course does not foster cultural appropriation, one of the newest and biggest triggers to hit college campuses this side of the border. By eating and, worse yet, daring to critique local tacos, are non-Hispanic students not being encouraged to behave insensitively?
Related Articles
- Shortening ‘guacamole’ to ‘guac’ is racist and other Cinco offenses
- Food fight: Students at Oberlin protest ‘cultural appropriation’ … by cafeteria staff
- Daily microaggression: University suspends yoga class due to ‘cultural appropriation’
- Cornrows and cultural appropriation: The truth about racial identity theft
