Who believes this?

They'd prepare the food, but they'd catch hell from their enslavers if they tasted it.

So the enslaved cooks were forced to whistle?

Let's unpack this story a little bit more.

I'm Len, and this is Two-Minute Black History, What You Didn't Learn and School.

We know enslavement was brutal, but don't believe everything you hear. The whistle walk is a prime

example. According to this southern myth,

enslaved cooks were required to whistle as they carried food from the kitchen to the big house so they couldn't eat any of it.

What?

Wait a minute. Let's break this down.

The kitchens, enslaved cook prepared meals meals from were often detached from the main

house. There was little supervision making it just as easy for cooks to taste the food while it was

still in the kitchen with enslaveers being none the wiser. So where did this story come from?

Hardly any research supports whistlewalking as commonplace.

The earliest written reference came in a 1954 book titled Shadows in Silver, a record of Virginia,

1850 to 1900 in contemporary photographs, that mentions the story in passing.

So why is this myth still circulating

if it wasn't a widespread practice? Stories like the Whistlewalk helped to illustrate the

white supremacist fantasy of subservient black people. The reality is that throughout our

history, all of us, including enslaved cooks, found ways to resist.

White supremacy loves to create tall tales about black people who enjoy their subordination.

If anything, we should all hope our ancestors took every finger-licking bite to stick it to their enslaveers.

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