South Carolina: The Politics of Barbecue and the Battle of Piggie Park

The New York Times ^ | September 16, 2002 | Brent Staples

[WhiskeyPapa]

It's all about hate after all.

Walt

[Non-Sequitur]

Walt, with all due respect to you as a friend and a loyal Union man, just what the hell would some New York creature know about barbecue?

[WhiskeyPapa]

Walt, with all due respect to you as a friend and a loyal Union man, just what the hell would some New York creature know about barbecue?

As much as they know about college football?

Walt

[Non-Sequitur]

It's all about hate after all.

Nah. Here is where it's all about hate. Courtesy of the shuckmeister himself.

[NormsRevenge]

Is Air RIBS still in business?

[justapicker]

I spent several years in Virginia and the Carolinas.

Politics and Rebel Flags aside, What passes a "Bar-B-Que" in those states bears no resemblance to the real deal in East Texas, Central Texas or West Texas.

Don't even get me started on "Chili".

I will, however, wholeheartedly grant they are beautiful states full of great people.

[Species8472]

Some good reading here:

Maurice's BBQ Online

And while you are at it you can show some support by buying a jug of sauce online!

[Non-Sequitur]

I spent a number of years in South Carolina as well and I wouldn't feed what they call barbecue to my worst enemy. It is pathetic. It looks like a cat got into the ham and then barfed it up all over the plate.

I'll grant you that Texas has what might charitably be called 'barbecue' but it doesn't hold a candle to what is available here in Kansas City.

[goodieD]

the right to free speech in the country notwithstanding eh y'all? Even so-called "conservatives" are guilty of shutting down what they don't want to hear, especially when it comes to the South. The South does not equal slavery any more than Europe or Africa does..They did it first, they did it longer but no one seems to care about that.

[WhiskeyPapa]

the right to free speech in the country notwithstanding eh y'all?

Even hate speech? Even saying that human chattel slavery is justifed in the Bible?

I guess you've shown your true colors -- I mean true flag.

Walt

[WhiskeyPapa]

The South does not equal slavery any more than Europe or Africa does.

No, but display of the confederate battle flag does.

Walt

[lodwick]

It's about time for me to order another case of Maurice's sauce. bttt

[Sender]

Would you charitably call the Georgia variety barbecue as well? I've never had KC BBQ.

[Corin Stormhands]

It's all about hate after all.

Barbeque - Just something else about the south WP don't get...

[Skibane]

The tracts Mr. Bessinger had on sale also undercut flag apologists' argument that the Confederate flag is all about regional pride, not race. They claim that the flag came to be over the Capitol in the first place because it was put up for the centennial of the Civil War, then mistakenly left flying. In truth, it went up a year later, in 1962, after a conflict between the state and the Kennedy administration, which had urged the integration of the Charleston, S.C., hotel where a centennial convention was being held. When black delegates were refused, the convention was moved to a military base. The flag's appearance on the Statehouse dome was an endorsement of the segregationist creed.

That pretty much says it all.

[WhiskeyPapa]

Exactly.

[Blue Screen of Death]

just what the hell would some New York creature know about barbecue?

I was thinking the same thing... what the hell would someone named Brent, writing for the NYT, know about BBQ.

I bet they (NYT) does not publish anything about deli written by someone named Bubba, living in Cut and Shoot, Texas (yes that is a town in Texas, North of Huston).

[RonF]

After reading Mr. Bessinger's web site, I wouldn't support his views in general, and would not buy his sauce. However, his comments regarding Wal-Mart discontinuing his products over his theoretical comments on slavery, while continuing to sell products that are actually made by slaves or virtual slaves in China and 3rd world countries are quite valid. I would say that the vendors, while not perhaps acting illegally, are acting in an un-American fashion.