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The Worst Black History Month Idea Ever

by Jenny Hollander

Here's how good intentions become seriously, well, racist: A Californian private school, Carondelet High School For Girls, wanted to come up with a novel way to commemorate Black History Month. Somewhere along the way, everything went a bit wrong, and the school ended up preparing to serve a special honorary lunch that included fried chicken, watermelon, and cornbread.

After the ill-fated lunch menu made the local news, principal Nancy Libby went to the school's Black Student Union and asked them what they thought about the meal option. The students told Libby that she should probably remove the watermelon from the menu.

Libby agreed, but after news of the incident spread, she cut all three items from the menu and wrote an apologetic letter to the school's parents.

I'd like to apologize for the announcement and any hurt this caused students, parents or community members... Please know that at no time at Carondelet do we wish to perpetrate racial stereotypes.

The school's administration is still scrambling to fix things, and has announced they'll hold a "diversity assembly" for the student body instead of, well, serving them fried chicken.

This latest incident confirms once again that, yes, 2014 is still racist. An Arizona State University fraternity was suspended in January for hosting a "Black Party" in honor of Martin Luther King Day. Plus, the Republican Party backtracked Thursday on their immigration promises, which an anonymous party member said came down to a "racial" issue. (Which is code for... oh, you know what it's code for.)

And 2014 hasn't been a particularly good time for school lunches, either. A Utah elementary school found itself in hot water when it tossed 30 students' lunches in the garbage, because the kids' parents hadn't paid their lunch bills. And a project called "Fed Up," which invited thousands of students to send in photos of their school lunches, made us all grateful that that period of our lives was behind us.