Sarah Tiberio Shultz (Memorial University of Newfoundland)
Nashville has always been a tourist destination, but recently the city has enjoyed increasing attention from the national media. One draw for tourists is the opportunity to try hot chicken, a spicy local dish. For locals, Nashville’s growth has been a mixed blessing, and hot chicken has become a symbol for the city’s past, and its rapidly changing present, sparking debates about racial and class inequality. This presentation explores how discussions about hot chicken make whiteness and class visible as marked categories from outside perspectives and enable locals to play with the experience of stigmatization.
Part of 08-05 Stigma: Foodways at the Intersections of What is Marginalized and Centralized [hybrid], Saturday, October 15, 10:30 am–12:30 pm