Another Seedy Post

As a caucasian, heterosexual, right-handed American male in his mid-forties, I really can’t claim to have personal experience with being the target of prejudice (being a liberal in Idaho certainly qualifies as being a member of a minority, but being disliked by a group largely consisting of backward-ass hicks is something I welcome). Nevertheless, one need not be the victim of injustice to recognize it and fight for its eradication. (Plus, I was in Mississippi in the mid-60s during the race riots … granted, I was a newborn, but when my little fists were clinched, I’m pretty sure it was in anger over the fact that my darker-skinned infant brethren had to play in a separate crib.)

It can be emotionally crushing when one discovers that one’s behaviors are not consistent with what one considers to be fair, just, and compassionate beliefs. And crushed I was, then, upon realizing that I’ve been supporting racist practices on this blog and in my life.

I recently extolled the virtues of watermelon as a breakfast food, and made mention of the seedless variety. Indeed, I generally buy the seedless melons. It has, however, recently occurred to me that the industry takes great liberties with the word “seedless,” and it is my acceptance of “seedless” as meaning something other than “without seeds” that has led to my moral failure.

Let’s take a look at some visual evidence:


Above: A traditional seeded watermelon. A true classic.


Above: A legitimate seedless watermelon. Other than the questionable science of creating a fruit that can’t reproduce, nothing too objectionable.

Now look at what I’ve been purchasing, advertised as seedless:


Above: Oh, you white seeds are fine. It’s just them other ones we’s askeered of.

While I’ll have to live with the shame of turning my back to such obvious racism, it’s never too late to try to do the right thing. I will personally return, and demand recompensation for, any “seedless” watermelons grown under the “whites only” policy, and I urge you to do the same. As Edmund Burke stated so eloquently, all that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing.

Let us do something – let us work toward a more tolerant world, a world where we are judged not by the color of our seeds, but by our ripeness and flavor.

Let us begin with the melons.