Woke Professor Tries To Cancel Apple Pie By Linking It To Slave Trade
Thoughts On Apple Pie
Cancel culture seems to be growing and leaving no one behind. I bet you never thought you would have anything bad to say about apple pie.
However, this university professor had plenty to say. He expressed why he thought the American dessert was more than you would have thought.
Meaning Behind Getting Canceled
The Foothill Dragon Press
We have recently heard about fame and fortune icons being “canceled,” but with no fundamental understanding of what it means.
When a public figure says things that may come across as disrespectful or offensive towards certain people, the general public chooses not to support them. By withdrawing their support, the icons are “canceled.” You would be shocked to know who made the list.
Singers And Authors
Public Domain
The Harry Potter author, J.K Rowling and Eminem, have been canceled for making transphobic comments.
Even though he’s deceased, Dr. Seuss had been canceled for depicting disrespectful stereotypes. But there’s more.
Family Films?
Disney
Family films by Disney, such as The Aristocats and Dumbo, have been said to contain negative stereotypes about certain races even though the characters are animals and so have been canceled.
Who would’ve thought anyone could be offended by a dessert? Everyone is supposed to love dessert, but this professor doesn’t and has a list of reasons.
Reputable
Public Domain
Raj Patel was born in London to a Kenyan mother and Fijian father and grew up to be a writer, academic, and filmmaker. He was the one who wrote about the apple pie case.
He has been to Berkley, Yale, the University of California, and the University of Texas at Austen. He has made a name for himself as someone who excels at justice writing and for his ability to make a dispute.
The Apple Pie Origins
Hartford Courant
What made him go viral was an article he that was published by The Guardian about where apple pie started.
Throughout his article, Patel insinuates that apple pie is not American and that it was born from slavery when thousands of Indigenous people were killed. He also mentioned it being tied to Jim Crow laws, but where did he get all the information?
Asian Apples
Sweet and Savory Meals
He begins by denying that apple pie is American.
He explains that apples were first cultivated in central Asia before making their way along the Silk Road to the Mediterranean. He assures readers that this is essential information for what he has to say next.
Taking Over Another Country
Smithsonian Magazine
It looks as though Patel is suggesting that because apples aren’t originally American, the recipe using them is associated with the activity from years ago when they were first brought to the Western World.
He explains how, in the 1500s, the apples traveled from the western hemisphere to the Spanish. It is better known now as the ongoing genocide of Indigenous People. Patel has more to say…
Origins Of The Recipe
He continues to explain that the apple pie recipe is also not American but a variation of a pumpkin pie recipe from England. He said apple trees became markers of an owned property when the English took over.
By now, you could be wondering if you should thank the British or apologize to them, but there is more that Patel has to say.
US Expansion
Pennsylvania Historical And Museum Commission
He explains that apple trees in Virginia were used to showcase improved land.
He confuses the reader more when he writes that John Chapman, a.k.a Johnny Appleseed, had used these markers to start expanding the US, signifying that Indigenous communities had been eradicated.
Sugar
Houmas House
Patel goes on to say that sugar isn’t American either. “Sugar cane was first brought to the US by Jesuits in 1751, but most US sugar remained an import until the Haitian revolution,” he notes.
But that’s not all; not only is sugar not American but it can also be linked to the international slave trade. This is how Patel draws the connection in his article:
Slave Trade
We’re History
“French merchants of sugar and slavery landed in Louisiana in the late 1700s. Within 50 years, the US produced a quarter of the world’s sugar cane, and New Orleans had become a concomitant hub of the slave trade.”
By now, you would think that Patel is almost done. What comes next, flour? Is flour bigoted as well? But at this point, the author surprises us by focusing on something else. Guess what is that?
Gingham
Hobby Lobby
He goes on to analyze “the gingham on which our apple pie rests,” which he claims “originated in south-east Asia, the word deriving from the Malay genggang, a striped cloth that arrived in Europe as Europe colonized Asia.”
Of course, he then links cotton to slavery. It feels a little forced to bring up cotton when we’re talking about apple pies, but fair enough, Patel probably felt like his article wouldn’t have been complete without that reference. But now, let’s have a drum roll for the article’s final conclusion.
Conclusion
Simply Recipes
“In the drama of nationalist culture, the bloody and international origins of the apple pie are subject to a collective amnesia,” Patel writes. “The apple pie is as American as stolen land, wealth, and labor. We live its consequences today.”
How do you like them apples? What’s for certain is that Patel’s article hasn’t left anyone indifferent. Here are some of the comments about it on social media.
Public’s Reaction
Best for the kitchen
“According to The Guardian newspaper (London), apple pie is racist too. These people are nuts,” one Twitter user said. “The ‘woke’ #CancelCulture mob seeks to destroy everything that is American and/or good,” another wrote.
How do you feel about Patel’s article? Do you think it has some fair points, or does it blow things out of proportion?
In order to protect the privacy of those depicted, some names, locations, and identifying characteristics have been changed and are products of the author’s imagination. Any resemblances to actual events or places or persons, living or dead, are entirely coincidental.
