Posted by The Dean of Cincinnati

This past weekend, my wife prepared for a celebration at our home, which we expected might be multi-racial.  I was not thinking along those lines, however, as my wife and I went through the grocery store, picking up supplies.  As we got to the aisle with soda and chips, she asked me to grab a 2-liter of Pepsi, and a 2-liter of Diet Coke.  I was surprised by her cross-branding selection, and asked why she picked diet in one brand, and regular in another.

"Black people drink Pepsi, white people drink Diet Coke,” she replied.

I had never really thought about such a thing, and I tried to call up any memories I had of pop-drinking habits by race.  I recalled that David Pepper has a refrigerator filled with Diet Coke, and he is white, but I didn’t have any strong recollection of Pepsi-drinking black people.  But I generally don’t argue with my wife when she tells me about things black people do.

It is also from my wife that I first heard how black people like barbecue Grippos.  And since first hearing that, I have noticed firsthand that I am much more likely to see barbecue Grippos being eaten when around black people.  But since Grippos are produced here in Cincinnati, I have often wondered if this is just a Cincinnati black thing, or if our locally produced chips have broad appeal across the nation among African American chip eaters.

According to urbandictionary.com, ”grippo” is a slang term for “very good potato chip.”

And it was Mayor Mallory who told me that white people don’t really like those prescription glasses that automatically turn to sunglasses.  He said he learned that lesson on the campaign trail, as he realized he got better reception from whites who could see his eyes when talking with him while outside.

Anyway, once I got to thinking about soda and race, I couldn’t help but think that the relatively new Jazz Diet Pepsi may be marked by an undertone of cultural blackness.  Some may criticize such a comment, but it is rather like if Ale-8-One entered the diet market with a bluegrass marketing campaign, and I said it appeared to have an undertone of Appalachian culture.

Naturally, making comments about Ale-8-One could cause some to say I am prejudiced against Applachians.  But how can that be true?  One of my best friends in Appalachian.

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