The specific event (i.e. having a barbecue) is a direct descendant from the Caribbean practice.
It actually goes over this in the article, along with a very brief description of how barbecues have been used a political events since the founding of the country.
The Tainos were the natives of not only Puerto Rico, but they're mostly gone now. I have a few relatives who are partly Taino, even my great grandmother was a full native to Puerto Rico. To clarify further the Tainos were not only Puerto Rican natives, they were also native to parts of South America (north east), Cuba, Jamaica, and Hispaniola (Haiti / Dominican Republic). It would be incorrect to attribute it to Puerto Rico itself, thus I attribute it to the Caribbean where they were natives. I'm sure it's been done elsewhere, but it became widespread in the southern states first according to Time:
I have eaten at Maurice's several times (it is delicious), but never knew the history. Confederate flags are common at businesses throughout the region, so it's hard to single out Maurice's as an outlier in this regard. Still an interesting read that will make me rethink whether to eat there.
The article has a certain vibe which reminds be of USSR's political persecutions.It's pretty disturbing how the author heavily implies that the children have to undergo some kind of renunciation ceremony in order to atone for the ideological beliefs of their father.
Perhaps a more fitting title for the article would be "Ancestral sin: an excessively long article about confederate flags and white privilege, with bits of historical moralization"
To me, this article seemed more about how political barbecue can be. It's equivocal about what the children should do, and never really answers the question of whether it's okay to eat at the restaurant again.
You might think that it's obvious that the children have no obligation whatsoever, but that doesn't make contrary opinions political persecution, even in vibe.
Being from Oregon, I had no idea until much later in life how diverse different styles of BBQ are.
There's some interesting coverage of BBQ as an exception to the homogenous, fast-food culture in the US in Tyler Cowen's book "An Economist Gets Lunch": http://amzn.to/2nZDa0k
As a local I would agree that 1) most KC barbecue joints are unremarkable, and 2) even done right it's good, but not "OMG I've never had meat so delicious" good. Still, though: good.
I recommend Q39 and Joe's KC to people visiting who want the good stuff. Just picking any ol' place that says it serves KC barbecue is a recipe for disappointment (goes double for anything at the airport or Crown Center). You'd be better off picking a random Mexican restaurant here than a random barbecue joint. YMMV.
[EDIT] incidentally we have a surprisingly decent food scene, and most of it's not barbecue, so don't limit yourself to that if you visit.
Pretty sure this is a submarine marketing piece, but I'm not entirely sure who would be paying for it. Is there a cartel of companies that sell barbecue food in America???
This is probably the most boring submission I've seen (read: skimmed through) on Hacker News in a while. I'm not criticizing writing style or quality here, just the topic seems so incredibly 'un-hackerish' that I'm puzzled how it got so many upvotes.
Submitter here. I am amused and puzzled as well. Apparently people care more about barbecue than they do about the more 'hacker-ish' things I've submitted. I've long since given up trying to predict the tastes of HN voters - nowadays I just submit anything I find personally interesting.
I didn't upvote it, but by its title, I thought it was going to mostly be about how different regions have different style BBQ. And those regions generally have a strong dislike for the other regions' styles.
Going to throw out a guess that it's got something to do with this buried lede:
> Lexington County, which encompasses all but one of the dozen Piggie Park restaurants now in operation, remains a bedrock of hard-right politics.
Also: Confederate flags, awful Southern white people, and some folks who moved down from PG County buying property from the latter and looking to get rid of the former. Is it too blithe to say "culture war, move on"?
Being southern or "from the south" and white does not make one automatically awful. That kind of stereotyping is literally what found us in such a political mess and should be discouraged. Please knock it off. If you were to say awful racist white people, I'd agree, but shockingly, there are plenty of awful racist white people in the north as well as the south, they're just louder down south.
Note: I'm white, from the south, am a veteran, also tend to lean liberal and work as a software engineer in the 3rd biggest city in the US. I think of myself as progressive and voted for Gary Johnson this election.
I suppose I could've made it more clear that I was characterizing the article's take, rather than expressing one of my own. I'm a Mississippi son myself.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barbacoa
Disclaimer, my ancestral heritage is from Puerto Rico.