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. 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. 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. I hope that my children will see in me a love for others, regardless of physical appearance. 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. 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”. For the individual slice, I just poured some more Chocolate Cheerios over the top to add some texture and depth of flavor.
Love it. That lil girl could be mine on the box. 🙂 love my lil cookie dough babies.
Brilliant! Thank You!
This is incredible and you are awesome for making it. I have to say, I didn’t even realize this commercial was the “interracial Cheerios commercial” until I saw it called out as such on the news. I’d already seen it multiple times and it never even occurred to me that the parents had different skin colors. And I love General Mills’ response–that they, under no circumstances, would pull the commercial. Hooray for common sense and love!
i love this. so, so, so… (so x 10000) much.
what you wrote… just perfect.
Amanda, love your cake, your words, your heart. Powerful message that will sadly, go unheard by those who need to hear it most.
For those who were/are *outraged* over the Cheerios commercial, you sadden my heart with your bigotry and ignorance.
While most food bloggers, myself included, do not usually seem to take a stance on anything more than food, I appreciate this post. I watched the video and honestly would not of even thought anything about the color of the skin of the people in the video had it not been pointed out. So it goes to show you. Either people look at the color of a person or they look at the person.
I for one eat Cheerios every now and then and have no idea why all the fuss about the commercial. Blacks have been marrying whites for years and having children; there’s nothing wrong with a good marriage. People who don’t like what they see on commercials usually just turn the channel and not write stupid remarks about it. Some others, who no fault of their own, are racist, and were probably taught or grew up with discrimination. The only thing about Cheerios I dislike is I don’t know if it contains GMOs. Now THAT’s important — not the race of a child.
The only problem I have with this post is that there is NO FROSTING between the layers! 😉
Beautiful cake, and beautiful message! After moving to Mississippi last year, I couldn’t believe how prevalent racism is down here. It’s really a different world here and it saddens me. So much segregation still. 🙁 I love your post and glad Cheerios has responded so gracefully. Thank you, sweet Amanda, for being a strong, positive voice in the blogging world, and a wonderful influence to your children, our future. 🙂
Beautifully said and beautifully baked!