“There’s a sense in editorial, publishing, and TV spaces that, if you are from a nonwhite background, what you talk about has to be generated from your identity in some way,” [Osayi] Endolyn told me. “But if you’re a white person you can go anywhere you want. You can talk about Asian cuisines, you can talk about African or African American cuisines, you can talk about South American cuisines. No one’s saying you can’t cook with turmeric—cook with turmeric, turn orange if you want to! The point is to recognize that people from nonwhite, non-Eurocentric cultures tend to be pigeonholed by their identity (which isn’t necessarily a measure of expertise) and not offered the same leeway to experiment, play, and ‘discover’ things.”
I found this article while scrounging around the internet looking for Thanksgiving recipes… And got so much more. This comment captures so many interesting facets of what someone has “permission” to do in their work: playfulness, curiosity, identity — they should be open to all.
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