Every year, Thanksgiving brings us food debates as venerable as time. Is it called stuffing or dressing? Do you serve cranberry sauce or jelly? Most importantly, do you have sweet potato pie or pumpkin?
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For Black folks this may seem like an basic answer, but it’s actually not that straightforward. There are quite a few people out there who prefer the conventional feeling of eating pumpkin pie on Thanksgiving. Meanwhile, for a lot of us, sweet potato pie is part of our family tradition. The recipe has been handed down for generations and making sure it’s part of the table is a way of honoring our ancestors.
Before we start arguing about flavors and taste, let’s get into the origins of yams and why they mean so much to Black families.
According to Culture Travels, yams were one of the many foods brought to America by enslaved Africans. As they passed down the best techniques for growing yams, enslaved people were also the ones who began to call them sweet potatoes. We really do deserve more credit for how we built this country’s food culture.
Per History, pumpkin pie was a popular English treat that made the trip to America with early colonists. Surprisingly, pumpkin pie became a central piece of abolitionist literature, which made it and Thanksgiving despised in the south. Of course, that didn’t last, as both became indispensable traditions after the Civil War.
While we doubt most Black people know the historical details behind pumpkin pie, we do know that sweet potato pie feels like it’s part of our history. It ties us to our ancestors and makes sure their presence is represented at our table.
And let’s be forthright — sweet potato pie just tastes better than pumpkin pie. When it’s done right, there’s something uniquely special about the way those flavors blend together. In the dessert world, a perfectly made sweet potato pie is almost unmatched.
Pumpkin pie can occasionally taste repetitive. Even when you know someone is putting their own spin on the recipe, it still kind of resembles every other version you’ve ever had. It just doesn’t hit the same as sweet potato.
If pumpkin pie is your jam, we’re not judging, because we understand that everyone celebrates in their own individual way. However, if you’re invited to a Black family’s Thanksgiving dinner, we suggest you enjoy the sweet potato pie, compliment the chef and keep it moving.
