School with 'soul food' Black History menu is being oversensitive about lunch

Once up on a time we celebrated the different things about people's ethnic background that made them stand out.

One of the main things being the food they like to eat. Being Italian, I have no problem when my ethnicity is celebrated with spaghetti and meatballs. Although being Italian, I also know they would never be as good as my grandmother's.

I bring this up because Hopewell Valley Central High School tried to honor Black History month with a "soul food" menu of fried chicken, sweet potato casserole, mac-and-cheese, cornbread and peach or apple crisp. And now they're apologizing for enforcing racial stereotypes. The food service vendor has also apologized and they are meeting with the school to reinforce their district values.

I think we're being way oversensitive here. Should it be wrong to serve corned beef and cabbage on St Patrick's Day? Or a Mexican meal on Cinco de Mayo? Our food is part of what sets us apart. It's also the best way to introduce each other to different ethnic backgrounds.

I believe the food company thought they were doing a good thing here. Personally, I'm a big fan of soul food and my mouth watered when I read that menu as I imagined others did as well. As far as I'm concerned, those that have a problem with the soul food can eat the salisbury steak!

Steve Trevelise is on the air from Monday-Thursday, 7 to 11 p.m. Tweet him @realstevetrev or @nj1015.

School with ‘soul food’ Black History menu is being oversensitive about lunch