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.
Bravo Amanda. I didn’t know about this either until I saw it on the Today show. Your cake is amazing and so is your post!
I was oblivious to the controversy. What the what? People are crazy.
Your words were beautiful and this was so well put (as always).
There is so much love in cake and you know I swear by your perfect white cake recipe– we will be making this!!
Thanks for refusing to be silent.
I just have to tell you, I am addicted to saying, “what the what?” So when I read this I thought, thats my BFF right there. Love seeing your pretty face lady! 🙂
🙂
Only comment I can think of is “LOVE”!
What a wonderful thought and so mature.
And I absolutely loved your thought on segregation 🙂
We are Cheerios family as well…it was my son’s fav finger food when he started solids. Would love to make a cheerios cake!
Thank you for a wonderful post. It is sad that this can happen in 2013. Beautiful idea for a cake.
BRAVA! BRAVA!
Giving you a standing ‘Cheeri-O!”
LOVE THAT!!! You are so darn witty! 🙂
Loved the cake. Love cheerios. Loved your comments. And I especially love my bi-racial children. People are always going to hate. If it’s not this commercial it will be something else.
I’m choosing to believe that the “controversy” is one loser sitting in his basement leaving multiple comments. Yes? Because, seriously? I just cannot believe there are people who exist like that. ugh.
Love the cake! 🙂
I am SO right there with you girl! I thought for SURE it was just one or two people… no way could this even be an issue in 2013! Hope your day is blessed sweet Bridget!
You make me laugh Bridget! “one loser sitting in his basement leaving multiple comments!!’ Too funny. Brings a bright spot to an otherwise dark and ugly subject. Amanda, love the post and the cake is a great tribute. We’re not big cereal eaters but you make me want to go out and buy a box of Cheerios. Maybe I will and give it to a friend with a little one!
And by the way, I loved the commercial. Girl loves her daddy.
I was raised in a time when people of color were seen as animals, less than human. I NEVER liked hearing all those racist comments. As a child, I was bullied by my classmates because I wanted to be friends with the only black girl in our class. As a teen, I was ostracized because I once dated a black young man and was grounded for a month by my parents. Now as a grandmother, I’m saddened to realize how little progress we’ve made in our attempts to overcome racism. I won’t be silent anymore. Thanks for inspiring us!
Sounds like you have always know how to embrace and support others. Thank you for taking a stand long before it was acceptable to do so!