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Another Reason Why We or May Not Put Sugar in Cornbread
It may have something to do with poverty and the war
For one of my college anthropology classes, I had to read an article on how cornbread divides the races in the South. The article was called, Why Does Sugar In Cornbread Divide the Races in the South, by Kathleen Purvis.
It compared the differences in the color of the cornbread due to the cornmeal used and whether sugar was added to the cornbread. It talked about cultural differences and if money had a part in it, but for me, the article left out what I thought could also play a role in it, war.
To Sweeten or Not To Sweeten
According to Purvis, black people put sugar in their cornbread, as well as use yellow cornmeal. Whereas, white people do not put sugar in their cornbread and use white cornmeal. Later in the article, it stated, “To be sure, today’s cornbread lines have gotten fuzzy. There are sweet cornbread fans in the white camp and non-sweet cornbread fans among African-Americans. But the two styles are distinctive enough to make anyone who pays attention wonder how the racial difference started.”
I have to say that this sounds more accurate as I can recall seeing my 78-year-old grandmother put sugar in her cornbread, which she makes from scratch and not from a Jiffy box…
