# Kool-Aid as a racial stereotype? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 6, 2015, 10:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kool-aid-as-a-racial-stereotype/739605 "2015-12-06T10:06:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2015, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kool-aid-as-a-racial-stereotype/739605/61 "2015-12-07T17:17:46Z")
> [@Cub\_Mistress](#): > > I was not born in the South, but I was damn sure reared here. In my working class neighborhood we ALL drank Kool-Aid. The grape sodas that the Black kids preferred at school parties was called Purple Drank by one and all. Fried chicken, watermelon, grits, okra, and collards or other greens were on everyone’s tables. (Okra and greens did not find a place on MY plate, but that is just me.) > > All that being said, the way the guy just blurted out “are you making Kool-Aid?” apropos of NOTHING was what made it racist to me. Growing up in Texas in the 1970s and 1980s, we ALL drank Kool-Aid too. And we drank stuff like Big Red and all sorts of odd fruit sodas like grape, strawberry, orange, etc… I think the stereotype comes in with black adults continuing to have a preference for those sodas and for kool-aid instead of iced tea or Coke/Pepsi. ---
**Author:** ![piepiepie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e47774/32.png) [@piepiepie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/piepiepie)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2015, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kool-aid-as-a-racial-stereotype/739605/62 "2015-12-07T17:36:27Z")
Black adults only (stereotypically) drink koolaid and fruit soda now? Well damn. Yeah, you keep that shit around for the kids, but we can go through gallons of sweet tea at family gatherings if we’re so inclined (the Brisk cans of tea are always the first to go at cookouts). And doesn’t Popeye’s sell sweet tea? Now a black adult drinking milk. That’s odd. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2015, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kool-aid-as-a-racial-stereotype/739605/63 "2015-12-07T17:39:02Z")
> [@piepiepie](#): > > Now a black adult drinking milk. That’s odd. But medically understandable. 74% of all y’all can’t digest it! (Lactose intolerance and allergy rate among African Americans is much higher than among Whites.) ---
**Author:** ![piepiepie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e47774/32.png) [@piepiepie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/piepiepie)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2015, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kool-aid-as-a-racial-stereotype/739605/64 "2015-12-07T17:51:13Z")
> [@WhyNot](#): > > But medically understandable. 74% of all y’all can’t digest it! (Lactose intolerance and allergy rate among African Americans is much higher than among Whites.) My dad loves milk. Quality anecdata. All of my white friends always had so much milk in their houses. Whole milk, skim, and whatever else. Gallons of it kept in a dedicated fridge in the garage next to their dad’s beer. There isn’t enough cereal in the world to justify all that milk. You could maybe find a half gallon of 2% in my house growing up. I’ll only drink it with peanut butter sandwiches. PB on both slices. It’s a necessity. ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2015, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kool-aid-as-a-racial-stereotype/739605/65 "2015-12-07T17:55:28Z")
> [@WhyNot](#): > > But medically understandable. 74% of all y’all can’t digest it! (Lactose intolerance and allergy rate among African Americans is much higher than among Whites.) It warms my southern cockles to see someone here use “all y’all” appropriately. ---
**Author:** ![Doctor\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctor_jackson/32/32_2.png) [@Doctor\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doctor_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2015, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kool-aid-as-a-racial-stereotype/739605/66 "2015-12-07T20:02:39Z")
> [@CarnalK](#): > > Ah, that reminds of my youth. Playing hide and seek in the wind blown fields of lady trucks just before harvest time. Just don’t get caught outside during the harvest when those lady trucks are falling out of the trees… ---
**Author:** ![you\_with\_the\_face](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/ecccb3/32.png) [@you\_with\_the\_face](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/you_with_the_face)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2015, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kool-aid-as-a-racial-stereotype/739605/67 "2015-12-07T20:21:38Z")
> [@WhyNot](#): > > But medically understandable. 74% of all y’all can’t digest it! (Lactose intolerance and allergy rate among African Americans is much higher than among Whites.) What’s funny is that I’m black but I drink more cow milk than a calf. My white husband gets bubble gut at the mere thought of dairy. Aren’t most people on the planet lactose intolerant to some degree? ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2015, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kool-aid-as-a-racial-stereotype/739605/68 "2015-12-07T21:08:00Z")
> [@you\_with\_the\_face](#): > > What’s funny is that I’m black but I drink more cow milk than a calf. My white husband gets bubble gut at the mere thought of dairy. > > Aren’t most people on the planet lactose intolerant to some degree? Yes, if you’re counting heads worldwide. 65% before you start separating people into groups. But there are a bunch of mutants (like myself) who sprang from the loins in Europe and have an unusual ability to digest milk into adulthood. The British have the lowest rates of lactose intolerance (5-15%) and since they were such effective arseholes at oppressing the world, they spread this idea that we should be drinking moo-joose after infancy, including in the US. Much to the chagrin of Black Americans and Native Americans who are/were given free gov’ment milk that most of them can’t drink without major GI unpleasantness. (This is one reason why I’m so grrr that the dairy industry has the school lunch program by the nads…but that’s another rant for another thread…) Racial/geographic breakdown of lactose intolerance: [http://milk.procon.org/view.resource.php?resourceID=000661](http://milk.procon.org/view.resource.php?resourceID=000661) ---
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2015, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kool-aid-as-a-racial-stereotype/739605/69 "2015-12-07T22:53:35Z")
I’ll lactose intolerant to a mildish degree, but damn if I’m going to forego a glass of milk when I’m eating a decadent cookie. A little farting never hurt anyone. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![TBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@TBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBG)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2015, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kool-aid-as-a-racial-stereotype/739605/70 "2015-12-08T01:05:59Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > For those of us who are non-Americans, _why_ is Kool-Aid considered a racial stereotype? I"m just not getting it? 😕 As an American who as a kid drank plenty of Kool-Aid, you’re not the only one who doesn’t get it. I guess everything is racial now. For that matter we honkies sure ate a lot of fried chicken and watermelon, too. These sorts of stereotypes are pretty dumb. Hey, Bob’s a black guy, I sure bet he likes breathing AIR! ---
**Author:** ![Idle\_Thoughts](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/838e76/32.png) [@Idle\_Thoughts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Idle_Thoughts)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2015, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kool-aid-as-a-racial-stereotype/739605/71 "2015-12-08T01:11:10Z")
Yup, as been said many times here, I’ve known about it and heard about it for a long time. Kool-aid (especially grape), has joined the ranks of watermelon and fried chicken as being one of those things you don’t want to accuse black people of enjoying, otherwise you’ll be seen as racist. Lesser ones in this category include a lot of Southern foods like (as mentioned a few times above): Okra, collard greens, chittlings, grits, catfish… Talk about those foods and some people tend to put a racial stamp on it in their minds, automatically. “Hey man, got any grape Kool Aid?” _Cue black jokes_ Pretty sad, but it’s how it is. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2015, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kool-aid-as-a-racial-stereotype/739605/72 "2015-12-08T03:22:04Z")
> [@Idle\_Thoughts](#): > > Kool-aid (especially grape), has joined the ranks of watermelon and fried chicken as being one of those things you don’t want to accuse black people of enjoying, otherwise you’ll be seen as racist. I think the word you’re looking for there is “assume,” not “accuse.” If you assume that somebody must like something, just because of their race… yeah, that’s at least a little racist. ---
**Author:** ![the\_diego](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7bcc69/32.png) [@the\_diego](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/the_diego)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2015, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kool-aid-as-a-racial-stereotype/739605/73 "2015-12-08T03:46:06Z")
It was included in a whole bag of anti-AA items during the “Office Kwanzaa” episode in that youtube series (you know, that short black guy in a suit who said “boo” to the tall white woman in the elevator?) ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2015, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kool-aid-as-a-racial-stereotype/739605/74 "2015-12-08T03:50:30Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > I think the word you’re looking for there is “assume,” not “accuse.” If you assume that somebody must like something, just because of their race… yeah, that’s at least a little racist. I think “accuse” works too in these kinds of cases. ---
**Author:** ![Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slow_moving_vehicle/32/291_2.png) [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slow_Moving_Vehicle)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2015, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kool-aid-as-a-racial-stereotype/739605/75 "2015-12-08T04:18:35Z")
I’ve heard of Kool-Aid in terms of a racial stereotype, but not in regards drinking it; more in regards what you _called_ it. Mrs. SMV and her (multi-racial) co-workers came up with a quiz called “Are You White Or Black?”, one of the questions of which is “When you were a kid, did you drink grape and cherry Kool-Aid, or purple and red?” (Others are “Does your dog live on a collar in the house or on a chain in the back yard?” and “Have you ever worn a long-sleeved sweatshirt with shorts?”) ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2015, 7:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kool-aid-as-a-racial-stereotype/739605/76 "2015-12-08T07:12:20Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > It took me a long time to learn World Standard Time. Near as I can figure, it goes something like this: > 1: Wait until the time you’re supposed to be at the event. > 2: Wait some more, until the next time you happen to glance at your watch and notice that you’re late. > 3: Get to a good stopping point in whatever it is you’re doing. > 4: Leave for the event. > 5: Arrive at the event. This sounds more like GST (Gay Standard Time). ---
**Author:** ![The\_Stainless\_Steel\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_stainless_steel_rat/32/5727_2.png) [@The\_Stainless\_Steel\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Stainless_Steel_Rat)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2015, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kool-aid-as-a-racial-stereotype/739605/77 "2015-12-08T13:21:01Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > It took me a long time to learn World Standard Time. Near as I can figure, it goes something like this: > 1: Wait until the time you’re supposed to be at the event. > 2: Wait some more, until the next time you happen to glance at your watch and notice that you’re late. > 3: Get to a good stopping point in whatever it is you’re doing. > 4: Leave for the event. > 5: Arrive at the event. In my case, when I was meeting with Egyptians in Cairo, we assumed a “15-minute break” was on Egyptian time, which meant it was a 30-minute break. and we planned an 0830 start but worked our schedule for a 0900 start. But back to the OP, I drink Cherry Kool-Aid all summer long (and have for the last 20 years) and am a 62-y.o. white guy and until this thread had never heard of this sterotype. You live and learn. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2015, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kool-aid-as-a-racial-stereotype/739605/78 "2015-12-08T13:26:39Z")
> [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](#): > > “Have you ever worn a long-sleeved sweatshirt with shorts?”) That one was probably taken from the “are you a Floridian?” quiz. ---
**Author:** ![Whiskey\_Dickens](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/9fc348/32.png) [@Whiskey\_Dickens](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whiskey_Dickens)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2015, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kool-aid-as-a-racial-stereotype/739605/79 "2015-12-08T13:31:48Z")
> [@CarnalK](#): > > Ah, that reminds of my youth. Playing hide and seek in the wind blown fields of lady trucks just before harvest time. Juuust about choked on my coffee. Literally LOL’d 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slow_moving_vehicle/32/291_2.png) [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slow_Moving_Vehicle)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2015, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kool-aid-as-a-racial-stereotype/739605/80 "2015-12-08T17:30:03Z")
> [@Cub\_Mistress](#): > > I was not born in the South, but I was damn sure reared here. In my working class neighborhood we ALL drank Kool-Aid. The grape sodas that the Black kids preferred at school parties was called Purple Drank by one and all. Fried chicken, watermelon, grits, okra, and collards or other greens were on everyone’s tables. (Okra and greens did not find a place on MY plate, but that is just me.) > > All that being said, the way the guy just blurted out “are you making Kool-Aid?” apropos of NOTHING was what made it racist to me. My middle-class family ate plenty of this cuisine when I was a kid. We just thought of it as Southern food. But then, we stole a whole lotta white Southern culture from African-Americans. (Except for NASCAR and country music; black folks are blameless there, we came up with those abominations our ownselves…) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kool-aid-as-a-racial-stereotype/739605.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kool-aid-as-a-racial-stereotype/739605.md?page=5)