I try to stay away from controversy on my little baking blog.
I have a philosophy… it’s silly I know.  But I believe that we can all unite over cake.  No matter your beliefs or views or politics, we can all come together and celebrate  with a beautiful and delicious cake.
When I heard that there was a controversy over a Cheerios commercial, I was deeply saddened.
After seeing the commercial, I literally had no idea what the controversy even was! In case you are as blissfully naive as I am, the issue was race.
Some people were upset that the husband was black and the wife was white and that they had an interracial child.
Martin Luther King, Jr. famously said, “We will have to repent in this generation not merely for the hateful words and actions of the bad people but for the appalling silence of the good people.”
I don’t want to be a part of the appalling silence anymore.
After reading some of the awful comments people have made, it’s clear to see that their minds are not going to be changed through some brief internet interactions. Â I am never going to argue someone into seeing my perspective.
Instead, what I do want to focus on is solutions.
This cake is simple. Â Overly simple some might say, but that was intentional.
I feel like the solution is simple.
Teach love.
I can certainly make sure that I am raising intelligent, well-mannered and considerate young people who understand that our inherent value is not based on appearance.
Simple.
I can model the behavior that I want to see in them. Â I hope that my children will see in me a love for others, regardless of physical appearance. Â I hope that they will remain blissfully ignorant of the pain and destruction caused by prejudice and racism for many, many more years.
  
Maybe we can all make a simple cake for someone you love!
Now. Â Do you want to know how I really feel about segregation?
 Ahem.
Just in case you want to make your own Cheerios Cake here is what I did:
Make the perfect white cake in two 8-in rounds and the best chocolate cake in two 8-in rounds.
I then whipped up a batch of chocolate buttercream to cover the cake.  There is no frosting between the layers.
Using Chocolate Cheerios, I spelled out the word “love”. Â For the individual slice, I just poured some more Chocolate Cheerios over the top to add some texture and depth of flavor.
How wonderful!! I absolutely LOVE this!!
Love this. Thank you.
Thank for sharing such a beautiful post to bring awareness to what is ‘still’ an issue. I personally love the Cheerios brand, Honey Nut, to specify and your words as well as sweetly baked rebuttal to ‘closed minds’ is one reason why I adore you and your blogging platform. I’m going to share this on all my social media platforms. Thank you again! 😀
Amanda. You. Rock.
The first time I ever watched the commercial on TV, my heart was smiling. Why? Because that little girl was worried about her daddy! I didn’t even notice the bi-racial couple until I had seen a post on FB about it. Come on people! Ridiculous. Loved it.
LOVE your post and the laundry quote.. I thought the commercial was the cutest thing ever!
Bravo! Very excellently put. There is a song in the musical “South Pacific” that goes, “they have to be taught, to hate, to fear, they have to be carefully taught!” That is so relevant to this…hate is an awful thing to teach your child.
You are awesome. It’s unfortunate that so many people would be up and arms about a commercial like this. When I see a commercial like this, or perhaps one representing a gay/lesbian couple, I am encouraged by it and happy to purchase that product/support that company. I hope for the day when, like you, everyone else will not even notice/differentiate one type of family from another. Thank you for your post.
Love your post (and your cake is gorgeous)! I, too, was saddened that some people found the commercial offensive.
There is some evidence that racism is born, though. There’s an entire chapter devoted to the subject in “Nurtureshock” by Po Bronson and Ashley Merryman, about a toddler’s innate desire to categorize and sort things, even people, into categories. It’s up to the parents to bring up the topic of race and teach the child that we don’t judge based on our physical characteristics.
Fabulous post and cake! I seriously applaud you need to say something. I love that commercial and am actually pleased that so many are standing up for Cheerios, although we shouldn’t need to. Your idea of modeling yourself is so spot on. It really is about showing to everyone that there is no difference between peoples.
Wow! Who knew a simple commercial would cause an uproar! I never saw this commercial before, nor heard about it ’til I read your post. We have always taught our kids not to judge people on anything but their character, beliefs and behavior and they have done so. In fact the joke is, their friends could make up a United Nations delegation, because they all come from different countries – including ourselves. Wonderful post and a gorgeous cake – how do you find the time???