Just a cotton pickin minute!
I'm offended that your offended by my offense to yellow!

and mingle would be silent, if all 'opinions' were dragged through the mud like those deemed to be too 'pc'

So people can say what they want but no one else has a voice to counter it?

You have something against the sun? Let's take it outside....unless you have play doh.. Thwn we can make something together

yes. People can say what they want. They can also be hypocrites by saying it.

This is what I mean when I say all Americans are brought up with some racist views. It is either due to associations the media immerses us with that causes conscious and subconscious stereotypes, or associations of certain things to certain cultures or in our educational process and it's tendency to to the same.

This is also what I mean when I say I don't care about personal racism as much as institutional. Much personal racism is simply ignorance and some actually comes from ignorance and good intentions.

I see this as the latter. As Americans we learn to associate foods with cultures so Latinas are associated with Tacos, for example. And the night before this event, Latinos were invited over and INDEED were served tacos WITHOUT the cotton stalk centerpiece, which make me feel the centerpiece choice was more intentional than 'seasonal'.

Because of that I understand the reasons catering decided to serve African Americans 'southern' food. I also understand how ignorant caterers would make the association between cotton and African Americans and not stop to think about how much more offensive that might be than simple food choice, as cotton is not exactly something Africans enjoyed or chose to pick themselves.

I'd say, this was just ignorance without intention of being offensive. I'd also say that ignorance should fade with knowledge. Now that the 'offenders' have been informed, I doubt they will make that choice again in the future.

The thing about a beautiful cotton centerpiece for a black dinner party is that it could have been accepted as a tribute to black history. That the host and hostess made a special arrangement to honor their guests.
For somene that lives in the present, it isn't that hard to see a compliment. For someone with personal issues about their heritage, any gesture will be an insult.
Its all in how you look at the world around you.

I too am of Irish descent. I don't flip out if I go to a dinner party and there is a train as a centerpiece. If they were making an effort to call out my heritage I would be honored that they are aware of the Irish hands in building the railroads.

What if the host were a black family with a cotton centerpiece. Is that okay or is it a non-issue like blacks calling each other the "N" word? I live in a black neighborhood. I hear that racial slur coming out of ONLY black people's mouths. It is a non-event.
This area is also rich in Mexican population. I never hear racial slurs from them, ever.

It seems like some black people only take offense when someone else acknowledges their history. Then it is an outrage and the screaming, crying and violence starts.

I agree that most people are racist to a certain degree some are obsessed with a self consuming hate for reasons that only make sense to those people. But sometimes folks are called racist because they assume to know ones actions even though they were not intending to hurt anyone , take for instance about 10 yrs. ago at one of the oldest and still active golf events in n.c. ( the GGO) . Tiger woods one the event and fellow golfer said, well I guess we will be having chicken and watermelon for the event dinner. Now you could say he was a jerk for saying that but it doesn't mean he is a racist and it doesn't mean he didn't like tiger or thought he was inferior which is what most people think when you here someone being called a racist.

I like chicken and watermelon.
So, if I go on a picnic at a park and have chicken and watermelon I'm a racist? No. I like chicken and watermelon.
If I wear sandals to the store I am not making fun of Arabs. I like sandals.

Like I have been saying for a long time.
Negative thinking causes you to see negative things.
If you are looking for racism and oppression you find racism and oppression even when it isn't present.

The cotton centerpiece is only an issue because someone made it an issue by calling notice to it and claiming it was offensive.

In today's hyped up world of over-exposure and the younger generation's need to have the spotlight in all things this was more about attention than anything else.

I know how facebook works. I know how getting "Likes" is really important to kids. I also realized how pathetic it is and stopped using facebook. Narcissism, plain and simple.

The thing about a beautiful cotton centerpiece for a black dinner party is that it could have been accepted as a tribute to black history. That the host and hostess made a special arrangement to honor their guests.
For somene that lives in the present, it isn't that hard to see a compliment. For someone with personal issues about their heritage, any gesture will be an insult.
Its all in how you look at the world around you.

I too am of Irish descent. I don't flip out if I go to a dinner party and there is a train as a centerpiece. If they were making an effort to call out my heritage I would be honored that they are aware of the Irish hands in building the railroads.

What if the host were a black family with a cotton centerpiece. Is that okay or is it a non-issue like blacks calling each other the "N" word? I live in a black neighborhood. I hear that racial slur coming out of ONLY black people's mouths. It is a non-event.
This area is also rich in Mexican population. I never hear racial slurs from them, ever.

It seems like some black people only take offense when someone else acknowledges their history. Then it is an outrage and the screaming, crying and violence starts.

it is if it is

posting to social media about how another's choice to do the same is 'whining' or having a 'poor me' mentality

merely having a different opinion is fine, labeling someone else's choice to do the same as something negative, is hypocritical

Isn't it strange that you are arguing a negative?

If even in their inner circles they are negative and disrespectful it only keeps the negative thinking active.
The language and actions within, transfer to the society as a reinforcement of negative. The result is a constant perception of a need to defend.

Those statements I just wrote in this post have no reference to any specific group. Did you see it as a general statement or did you superimpose a group so you can take offense?
If so, it indicates a similar mentality to the intent of this OP.
Making a negative out of a neutral statement indicates there are issues within, that reinforce negative thinking.