We take one step forward, only to take three steps back.
That's what it seems like after watching this story about a pastry shop in Greenwich Village, NY whose owner--Ted Kefalinos constructed what he called the "Drunken Negro Cookie," in honor of our new President Barack Obama. MyFoxNY.com reporter Arnold Diaz questioned Kefalinos about the inappropriateness of the name and image of his cookies. Diaz asked Kefalinos if he felt the cookies were racist and thought Blacks would be offended by the "unflattering image?"
"No its not [unflattering]. Its an expression of freedom, for me its just a fun thing, that's all it was, and anybody who says anything else [should] be a shamed of themselves," said Kefalinos in the television interview.
Consequently, Diaz's report generated hundreds of strong reactions, and of course just 24 hours later, the Lafayette French Pastry's owner issued an apology to the community, saying, "seriously and from the bottom of my heart, it was an innocent design that I created and was nothing more than just a piece of art." He hopes that in the spirit of Martin Luther King, he would like to be forgiven for his mistakes.
Reading the comments from Diaz's blog, the overall reaction to the cookies is not necessarily that of anger. Comments like: "While I think this is a despicable person to create such a cookie that promotes prejudice views, it's freedom of speech that makes our nation great."
and
"Drunken Negro Head/Face...LMAO that is hilarious...I am Back and I think that is funny, but it would NOT be something I would sell on the street...that would be something I might joke about with my close friends...you would think folks would be a little more ware now a days."
Suggests that people are not angry at this man, they just think he is ignorant for not realizing he's being bluntly disrespectful. What do you think? Is this something that suggests we have not come as far as we think we have. Or is this something that just illustrates the rights of the 1st Amendment and should be brushed off as ignorance?
