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.
I agree with JessB! And good for you for this post!!
Applause, applause! Sharing far and wide!
Very, very well said. Both in the words you used and the fact that it was illustrated with cake. My only complaint is the lack of frosting between layers, next time please use more frosting 😉 Now I want to make a chocolate & vanilla ombré cake!
what a great way to express and promote Love instead of Hate.
I Love your work! Let’s keep the message moving!
Cool cake, I couldn’t believe people were upset over this. I never even noticed the parents, I thought it was cute how she poured the cereal on her Daddy. I have also bought Cheerios this week!
The commercial is HILARIOUS!!!!!!!
Who cares what color everyone is. I don’t get it. I don’t get it at all.
One day, we were driving and stopped at a light and my 4 year old at the time saw a man in the car next to us. A big (BIG) black man.
“Hey, mom! Is that a bear?”
I turned red, laughed, and sheepishly told her that no, people are all different colors. Some are pasty whitish pink like us and some are beautifully dark and brown like the man next to us.
and she was happy.
So well said! Thank you.
This post made my day! I am bi-racial and am upset though not entirely surprised about the reaction to the Cheerios commercial. What a wonderful post, and a wonderful thing to do. In addition to that, the cake is beautiful!
I agree completely with you! There is a time to sit back and a time to engage, and we all need to engage and end the stupidity. We have more pressing issues than color. Thank you for sharing your stand and displaying a beautiful cake.
Thanks for this post! I love it and the cake was a perfect way to discuss the issue. I am African and my husband is American and ‘stern’ looks have become a constant part of our lives that still sometimes shocks me.