It's always tragic to be black

Even when you try to eat healthier. Damned if you reach for the fried chicken, damned if you reach for the baked whiting. I'm not sure what media wants to happen here. It's been barely two years since the Times ran a series lamenting the incredible diabetes rates in East Harlem. Now they run a story lamenting the decline of ham hocks and red velvet cake. This game is rigged--either you play the tragic Negro, or you get ignored. You choose.

There is of course the gentrification angle, but that doesn't really explain much--Harlem is still overwhelmingly black. The diet change deal started years ago, when soul food joints started cooking their greens with turkey wings, and baked chicken became the move. Personally, I miss Ahira's. 116th and Lenox cats know what I'm talking about,

This article available online at:

http://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2008/08/it-apos-s-always-tragic-to-be-black/5590/