As Dave Chappele rightfully says, “There is something wrong with you if you don’t like chicken and watermelon, But why is there a stereotype to a piece of fruit? Here is some interesting information about Watermelon. Then maybe we can get to the bottom of this food conspiracy!”

Watermelon is thought to have originated in southern Africa, where it is found growing wild. It reaches maximum genetic diversity there, with sweet, bland and bitter forms. In the 19th century, Alphonse de Candolle^[1] claimed the watermelon was indigenous to tropical Africa.^[2] Though Citrullus colocynthis is often considered to be a wild ancestor of watermelon and is now found native in north and West Africa, it has been suggested on the basis of chloroplast DNA investigations that the cultivated and wild watermelon diverged independently from a common ancestor, possibly C. ecirrhosus from Namibia.^[3]

Watermelon is also mentioned in the Bible as a food eaten by the ancient Israelites while they were in bondage in Egypt. (The more you read the dumber the stigma attached to Watermelon seems)

(This is where it gets interesting)  Watermelons were grown by Native Americans in the 16th century. Early French explorers found the fruit being cultivated in the Mississippi Valley. Many sources list the watermelon as being introduced in Massachusetts as early as 1629. Southern food historian John Egerton has said he believes African slaves helped introduce the watermelon to the United States. Texas Agricultural Extension horticulturalist Jerry Parsons lists African slaves and European colonists as having distributed watermelons to many areas of the world. Parsons also mentions the crop being farmed by Native Americans in Florida (by 1664) and the Colorado River area (by 1799). Other early watermelon sightings include the Midwestern states (1673), Connecticut (1747) and the Illiana region.

So let get this right, The Native Americans were growing it BEFORE SLAVES were brought to this country and Europe Colonist also helped spread the crop around this country! Correct me if I’m wrong but I don’t think that there were not to many Black European Colonist?

Yes Black people love Watermelon and White people too and so do the Turks, Iranians. (Number 2 and 3 on the highest producers of Water Melon) So thank the Native Americans Maybe we can give them CREDIT FOR SOMETHING!! But to be honest with we are number 5 in the world for Water Melon producers. In case you were wondering China is number 1.  

Here are some Cultural references:

• In Vietnamese culture, watermelon seeds are consumed during the Vietnamese New Year's holiday, Tết, as a snack.^[26]
• Stereotypical caricatures may depict African Americans as being inordinately fond of watermelon (along with fried chicken), to the point where some African Americans do not want to be seen in public eating watermelon.^{[27][page needed]}
• The Oklahoma State Senate passed a bill on 17 April 2007 declaring watermelon as the official state vegetable, with some controversy surrounding whether a watermelon is a vegetable or a fruit.^[28]
• The citrulline in watermelon (especially in the rind) is a known stimulator of nitric oxide. Nitric oxide is thought to relax and expand blood vessels, much like the erectile dysfunction drug Viagra, and may even increase libido.^[29]
• Fans of the Saskatchewan Roughriders of the CFL started a tradition of hollowing out a watermelon and wearing it as a makeshift football helmet (the color of the Roughriders is green). During the 2009 Grey Cup in Calgary (between the Montreal Alouettes and the Roughriders), thousands of watermelons had to be imported to Calgary supermarkets to prevent a shortage being caused by Rider fans.^[30]
• The town of Chinchilla in Queensland, Australia, holds a biannual festival celebrating all things melon.
• The ten-lined June beetle is often affectionately referred to as a watermelon beetle, due to the green, striped pattern on its back.
• It is the symbol of the Turkish city, Diyarbakır.

 

I hope I have helped bring down some of the most ridicules prejudices out there. Be defined by who you are as a person not what you EAT!

I will leave you with this recipe, I the hopes it will bring you and the people you know closer together!