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BLACK HISTORY 365 + CULTURE
Why Black People Eat Black-Eyed Peas To Celebrate The New Year
Adding a little bit of history to your new years' pot
As with any good food story, the history of black-eyed peas is intricately tied to the culture we share. Black people and many other Southerners eat Black-eyed peas on New Year's Eve for good luck. But, some of you may be wondering where folks get the idea from. Well, it all started during the Civil War. Initially, White slaveowners fed black-eyed peas to their livestock and "later as a food staple for enslaved people." Of course, now everyone loves it, but it started as a diss to Black people, feeding them scraps.
Black people have always had to make their own luck in America.
Even General Sherman's Union Army troops thought of black-eyed peas as a lowly food crop. So, during the harsh winter, they stole other crops from Southern work camps, or as whitewashing historians refer to them — plantations. But, the White soldiers left black eye pea crops unscathed.
White Confederate soldiers got desperate since the Union army destroyed much of their preferred crops — they had to come down to earth and eat the food they reserved for Black enslaved people and their livestock. So, you get it? They were first called "lucky" because the Union soldiers did not destroy the crop. In this respect, they were lucky for White southerners. Throughout the South, black-eyed peas are well known for bringing luck and prosperity to the family throughout the year.
But, we wouldn't have black-eyed peas without Black Americans. You see, black-eyed peas were native to West Africa, the same place where White slavers kidnapped Africans to bring them to the Caribbean and the Americas. Along with the human cargo, White slavers stole and traded crops. So, just like gumbo, black-eyed peas represented the diaspora, an unbroken line between West Africa and those held captive across the ocean. How lucky they fed Black people, even as White people considered the dish lowly. Did White slaveowners deserve some New Years' luck? You should be the judge of that.
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