# Why do white people eat mayo sandwiches? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 22, 2012, 10:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-white-people-eat-mayo-sandwiches/619575 "2012-04-22T10:33:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![yabob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yabob/32/2821_2.png) [@yabob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yabob)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2012, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-white-people-eat-mayo-sandwiches/619575/21 "2012-04-22T14:13:58Z")
I have no use for mayo as a condiment on a sandwich, let alone a filling in it. I will admit that the stuff has its uses in aggregates like potato salad and macaroni salad to hold them together - it’s not a food, it’s mortar. ---
**Author:** ![Carptracker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ac91a4/32.png) [@Carptracker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Carptracker)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2012, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-white-people-eat-mayo-sandwiches/619575/22 "2012-04-22T14:14:47Z")
My mom used to make mayo (or maybe Miracle Whip, IDK) sandwiches. It was kind of a comfort, snack food. Or maybe when times were hard, she was doing a good job of concealing it from me. I’ve eaten them a couple times as an adult, nostalgically. Not bad actually. Actually about the only time I ever use mayo other than a BLT, or a couple recipes, (like catfish Allison, yum!). FTR, I am white, at least mostly, and I have always passed for white. I am a bit darker than most whites, and in the southern white community I grew up in, if there were any nonwhites in our ancestry it would likely have been covered up if possible. ---
**Author:** ![yabob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yabob/32/2821_2.png) [@yabob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yabob)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2012, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-white-people-eat-mayo-sandwiches/619575/23 "2012-04-22T14:20:51Z")
And as for the European idea of putting the stuff on fries … THAT is deserving on derogatory stereotype-hood. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2012, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-white-people-eat-mayo-sandwiches/619575/24 "2012-04-22T14:42:37Z")
> [@WhyNot](#): > > I’ve made Miracle Whip sandwiches, in the throes of poverty. Yes, this is the only reason I know of that people I’ve encountered ate them. ---
**Author:** ![AClockworkMelon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aclockworkmelon/32/10803_2.png) [@AClockworkMelon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AClockworkMelon)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2012, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-white-people-eat-mayo-sandwiches/619575/25 "2012-04-22T15:15:32Z")
White people love mayo because mayo is fucking delicious. ---
**Author:** ![jz78817](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jz78817/32/1028_2.png) [@jz78817](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jz78817)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2012, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-white-people-eat-mayo-sandwiches/619575/26 "2012-04-22T15:21:31Z")
> [@Speak\_to\_me\_Maddie](#): > > Use of mayo is simply a stereotpye for suburban WASPs, has been for some time. Im reminded of scene in Northern Exposure when Jewish Joel Fleishman from NYC visits WASPy Maggie OConnels family in Grosse Point MI. At a party buffet he finds potato, macaroni, chicken, and tuna salads, along with sandwiches dressed in mayo. He wonders out loud, “is there anything you people eat without mayonaisse?” It is a thing that comes up when people play with stereotypes, but ive never met anyone who eats sandwiches made of mayo and bread only. Bernie Mac had a similar bit: _“When white people go on break at their job. 15 minutes. They go to their desk. They eat their cheese sandwich. Drink their God damn tea. 15 minutes they’re back on the fucking job.”_ ---
**Author:** ![ASanders](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asanders/32/3367_2.png) [@ASanders](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ASanders)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2012, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-white-people-eat-mayo-sandwiches/619575/27 "2012-04-22T15:23:14Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > Add ketchup. The sweet and tanginess of the ketchup goes great with the creaminess of the mayonnaise. The umami and saltiness help a bit, too. > > What ethnicity that would make me, I don’t know. That’s essentially Russian dressing without the pickles. My favorite condiment combo for burgers. As a kid I was known to eat a mayo sandwich when I wanted a snack and the larders were bare. Still love mayo, although not on its own, but white bread is gross to me now. ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2012, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-white-people-eat-mayo-sandwiches/619575/28 "2012-04-22T15:40:07Z")
> [@AClockworkMelon](#): > > White people love mayo because mayo is fucking delicious. Well that and because we can afford them beyotch, unlike our spectrally challenged bretheren. ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2012, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-white-people-eat-mayo-sandwiches/619575/29 "2012-04-22T15:54:55Z")
Opps. Realized it might look like I was calling someone a beyotch. Just using a slang word for effect in a so so joke line. No insult intended. Sorry about that. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2012, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-white-people-eat-mayo-sandwiches/619575/30 "2012-04-22T16:38:14Z")
> [@yabob](#): > > And as for the European idea of putting the stuff on fries … > > THAT is deserving on derogatory stereotype-hood. Mayo there is not like mayo here, and it’s great on fries. At least the fries in Belgium were. In England they slog vinegar all over them which just makes them soggy. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2012, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-white-people-eat-mayo-sandwiches/619575/31 "2012-04-22T16:48:39Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > Mayo there is not like mayo here, and it’s great on fries. At least the fries in Belgium were. In England they slog vinegar all over them which just makes them soggy. I do have to say, as much as I wanted to be disgusted by greasy fries being dipped in, what in effect is emulsified oil with vinegar, and all that being a fat overload, yes, they are a treat. But I do like the English malt vinegar method, too. ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2012, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-white-people-eat-mayo-sandwiches/619575/32 "2012-04-22T17:06:01Z")
I had never heard of anyone actually eating mayo sandwiches prior to this thread, and I am a very white white person both in terms of complexion and culture. “[Stuff White People Like](http://stuffwhitepeoplelike.com/)” is basically a list of things that I like. FWIW I hate mayonnaise. My best guess as to the origins of this joke is that it’s either based on a mayo-and-Wonderbread sandwich being the palest sandwich one could make, or its an exaggeration based on the perception that white people in general/WASPs in particular use mayonnaise on their sandwiches more often than other races/ethnic groups. I learn towards the former, as I believe similar jokes and urban legends exist about dark foods turning someone’s skin darker. For instance, the title of the novel _[Coffee Will Make You Black](http://www.amazon.com/Coffee-Will-Make-You-Black/dp/0380724596)_ refers to a warning that the young African-American heroine hears in the 1960s about why she shouldn’t drink coffee. Now that I think of it, when I was living in Japan there were at least two times when teenage girls asked me if I thought they could make their complexions lighter “like yours” by either drinking milk or eating white bread – two items that are both pale in color and consumed more frequently by Westerners than by the Japanese. ---
**Author:** ![dataguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/eada6e/32.png) [@dataguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dataguy)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2012, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-white-people-eat-mayo-sandwiches/619575/33 "2012-04-22T17:14:59Z")
The comedian Martin Mull built a whole act around this idea. ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2012, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-white-people-eat-mayo-sandwiches/619575/34 "2012-04-22T18:38:41Z")
> [@WhyNot](#): > > I’ve made Miracle Whip sandwiches, in the throes of poverty. Mayo is just too dull on its own. Done that as well. Also made catsup ‘tomato soup’ as well. ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2012, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-white-people-eat-mayo-sandwiches/619575/35 "2012-04-22T18:41:05Z")
Woody Allen used this in \*Annie Hall \*to depict white-as-white-can-be, where Annie Hall orders a pastrami on white with mayo in a deli. I seem to remember another scene where Woody was trying to identify with this for the sake of the relationship and came home with a grocery bag with mayo and white bread. ---
**Author:** ![Hazle\_Weatherfield](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Hazle\_Weatherfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hazle_Weatherfield)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2012, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-white-people-eat-mayo-sandwiches/619575/36 "2012-04-22T18:47:36Z")
> [@WhyNot](#): > > I’ve made Miracle Whip sandwiches, in the throes of poverty. Mayo is just too dull on its own. Yes. ---
**Author:** ![Hazle\_Weatherfield](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Hazle\_Weatherfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hazle_Weatherfield)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2012, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-white-people-eat-mayo-sandwiches/619575/37 "2012-04-22T18:54:58Z")
I didn’t eat it because I was poor, though (I am now, however); I really loved it as a kid. Just Miracle Whip on some white bread. Loved it! Isn’t Miracle Whip a sort of pricey item to buy when you’re poor? Although, I guess it lasts for quite awhile; maybe that’s it. For the cheapness/nutritional value, though? Beans and rice. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2012, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-white-people-eat-mayo-sandwiches/619575/38 "2012-04-22T19:13:17Z")
> [@Hazle\_Weatherfield](#): > > I didn’t eat it because I was poor, though (I am now, however); I really loved it as a kid. Just Miracle Whip on some white bread. Loved it! Isn’t Miracle Whip a sort of pricey item to buy when you’re poor? Although, I guess it lasts for quite awhile; maybe that’s it. For the cheapness/nutritional value, though? Beans and rice. For some strange reason, the food pantry by us ALWAYS has Miracle Whip. I wonder if there’s a local supplier who makes frequent donations. Beans. Oh, ugh, beans. I haven’t made them since I got a job, except for New Years! There’s a thread around here somewhere were I wrote about 3 gazillion ways to season beans. ---
**Author:** ![JBDivmstr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/b4bc9f/32.png) [@JBDivmstr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JBDivmstr)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2012, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-white-people-eat-mayo-sandwiches/619575/39 "2012-04-22T20:47:05Z")
My Dad’s SO uses the term ‘Mexican mayonnaise’ (sp?), in reference to refried beans. 😕 JSYK, she is a ‘native’ Mexican with dual citizenship. (Mex. & USA) ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2012, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-white-people-eat-mayo-sandwiches/619575/40 "2012-04-22T21:04:58Z")
> [@JBDivmstr](#): > > My Dad’s SO uses the term ‘Mexican mayonnaise’ (sp?), in reference to refried beans. 😕 > JSYK, she is a ‘native’ Mexican with dual citizenship. (Mex. & USA) Thank you for the valiant effort required to drag this thread back on track. And, :D! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-white-people-eat-mayo-sandwiches/619575.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-white-people-eat-mayo-sandwiches/619575.md?page=3)