Stephanie Wang

stephanie.wang@indystar.com

The problem wasn’t that Park Tudor School served fried chicken.

The tension didn’t come from simply doling out collard greens and soul food.

But the misstep came in calling it a celebration of Black History Month.

Several black students at Park Tudor felt hurt and disappointed, school officials said, and a similar outcry also echoed through social media. The Indianapolis private school issued an apology Thursday for what it recognized as an “offensive and misguided” gesture.

“We apologize for what was a clear error in judgment,” the statement said. “We recognize the distress and hurt feelings this has caused within our entire community.”

The elite school — where tuition is $15,000 to $19,000 a year and recent data shows only 67 of its 950 students are black — had stumbled into promoting a stereotype rooted in minstrel shows.

White people painted with blackface created derogatory caricatures of blacks as primitive, uneducated savages in minstrel shows, which became popularized images throughout the early 1900s, said Indiana University history professor Jakobi Williams.

Just as blackface and exaggerated red lips became a symbol of racism, he said, so did the other props in the minstrel shows — fried chicken and watermelon.

“It’s one of the most egregious stereotypes,” said Williams, who also teaches in the African-American and African Diaspora Studies department.

Soul food emerged during slavery, he said, when poverty and oppression dictated the kinds of foods and cooking methods that slaves had access to.

Serving fried chicken as a Black History Month celebration also generalizes that all black people eat and like those foods, Williams said.

“There are more important things you can do with Black History Month than a menu,” Williams said. “I don’t think students are going to learn much from a menu.”

Park Tudor administrators realized the issue before the lunch was served Wednesday, said the school’s director of diversity and inclusion, John Daves, and immediately removed any mentions tying the menu to Black History Month.

Some online critics said Park Tudor’s insensitivity was indicative of the lack of diversity at the K-12 private school.

In the 2011-12 school year, Park Tudor enrolled 67 black students among its student body of 950, according to the National Center for Education Statistics. About a quarter of its student population is racially or ethnically diverse — and the school’s website notes its faculty diversity is even lower.

“I think the takeaway is, we know this is an ongoing conversation,” Park Tudor’s Daves said. His position as diversity and inclusion director was created within the past year, which is part of the school’s efforts to add diversity into its curriculum and admissions.

There was, he said, “a great opportunity to come out of this unfortunate circumstance” to talk about diversity at the school: “Those are not necessarily comfortable conversations to have.”

But some worried the food flap was just a symptom of a greater issue at the school.

“I’m not surprised,” said John Stanfield, education co-chair of the Greater Indianapolis NAACP. “Park Tudor is in serious need of getting very serious in developing effective inclusion and equality. Otherwise, their students are going to have a hard time transitioning in this world.”

Joe Slash, president and CEO of the Indianapolis Urban League, was more concerned about stressing black history in schools than the choice of lunch foods.

“Schools don’t take it seriously to teach the history of black Americans,” he said.

Park Tudor said its Black History Month activities included a presentation on Martin Luther King Jr. and one from a student who attended a People of Color conference.

The school blamed the menu mistake on its food-service provider, Aladdin Food Management Services. Daves said the company crafts meals without needing approval from Park Tudor administrators.

The West Virginia-based company, which serves schools and health-care facilities across the country, declined to comment on the incident or say whether the menu appears in other locations.

That same meal is served at Park Tudor’s annual multicultural dinner, where Daves said families specifically request the menu for the event. But he said the menu was “unconsciously” linked to Black History Month without food services realizing the connotations.

Call Star reporter Stephanie Wang at (317) 444-6184. Follow her on Twitter: @stephaniewang.

School’s statement

“Park Tudor’s lunch menu on February 26 was an offensive and misguided attempt by our food service provider to celebrate Black History Month. We apologize for what was a clear error in judgment.

“We are very committed to promoting diversity at Park Tudor, and this incident has sparked important dialog within our school community. We believe that an effective learning environment includes an appreciation for diversity. We expect each member of our community to understand and value various perspectives, to identify and overcome stereotypes and prejudices, to strive for equity and justice within the school and the community at large, and to value the differences among families and individuals and all they have to offer and contribute.”