Nourishment and Knowledge: How Adding Missing Ingredients to a Melting Pot Culture is Not Racist Or
Being a 'Racist' and able to prove it! Or Being a Racist and
Nourishment and Knowledge: How Adding Missing Ingredients to a Melting Pot Culture is Not Racist
Food and education, two universal languages that have the power to unite us. Each one is a form of nourishment, feeding our bodies and our minds. So, how can an initiative aimed at promoting diversity and inclusion within these two vital arenas be mislabelled as 'racist'? This is a claim that some ill-informed critics would like us to believe when referring to the HoteliersGuild's initiatives, BeyondCuisine and the Sirius Award scholarship campaign.
These initiatives are deeply ingrained in the essence of both food and education, seeking to fill in the gaps where underprivileged groups have been left behind. They are an attempt to provide the missing ingredients, the untold stories and the overlooked flavours to the global gastronomic experience. To label these efforts as 'racist' is as absurd as saying that adding a pinch of salt to a stew would overpower all other flavours. In the culinary world, we understand that each ingredient has a part to play. Some bring depth, others bring brightness, and others, like our humble salt, enhance existing flavours. Our targeted support for black African women is akin to adding this much-needed salt, highlighting the existing flavours of our industry.
By shining a light on underrepresented groups, we are enriching the culinary world, not segregating it. Our initiatives are our way of ensuring that global cuisine hears every voice, tastes every flavour, and learns from every story. We are not aiming for exclusion; we are striving for balance. Our goal is to foster a more harmonious and inclusive gastronomic ecosystem where everyone, irrespective of their background, gets an equal chance to contribute.
If anything, we are guilty of adding too many spices to the mix. That's because we believe the more diverse the ingredients, the richer the stew. The Sirius Award scholarship campaign is an open invitation to all disadvantaged minorities in our industry, not just black African women. We are all about amplifying voices, not silencing them.
This journalist's insinuation is a misinterpretation of the recipe we are following. They have mistaken our attempt to balance the taste profile with an attempt to skew it. If this is racism, then every accomplished chef around the world would be guilty.
To all those who still doubt our intentions, I invite you to take a seat at our table. Taste the dishes prepared by our talented scholars, engage with them, listen to their stories on VoicesOfAfrica on YouTube! You will quickly realise that we are creating a rich, diverse culinary experience, not a brew of bigotry.
In the end, the proof of the pudding is in the eating. It's high time we focus on enjoying the symphony of flavours we are creating, rather than quibbling over
the proportions of the ingredients. Because what we're cooking up here is a celebration of diversity, not a dish of discrimination.
P.S.: But wait a minute! I just remembered, I am, in fact, a 'racist'! Or so it was perceived many moons ago in Apartheid South Africa. As a young general manager of the then ultra luxurious five-star Maharani Hotel in Durban, I made a decision that caused quite the stir. My well-meaning, but racially-minded (White) personal assistant approached me for separate dates to throw Christmas parties for Whites, Blacks, Indians and Coloureds. With naivety, or perhaps wisdom beyond my years (?), I ordered ONE single party - an allinclusive celebration, a Christmas for all. This was not a decision born out of ignorance, but rather an assertion that there is, indeed, only one race: the human race.
This single act of unity, this mixing of the pot, was a tremendous success among the staff. However, it earned me a rather contentious badge of honour as a 'racist'. The press called for my immediate expulsion from the country, if not my incarceration. Just imagine, a 'racist' for throwing a party for humanity!
And what saved me from this preposterous accusation? The intervention of one of our regular guests, none other than P.W. Botha, South Africa's then-President, and my superior, the legendary Sol Kerzner (RIP). Yes, if promoting unity, peace, and common humanity makes me a 'racist', then I wear that label with immense pride. After all, who wouldn't want to be 'racist' in a world that so desperately needs more love, unity, and understanding? And again, if that makes me a 'racist', then please, pour me another glass of that 'racist' punch! I'll drink to that.
It was my pleasure and privilege to present the HoteliersGuild Lifetime Achievement Award to One&Only Sol Kerzner and induct him into the HoteliesGuild International Hospitality Hall of Fame, at Palacio Linares, Villa Padierna Palace Hotel, 2016. At left, his commemorative painting and plaque.
The good-looking guy to your right is me!
