Most of us go through life without thinking about how certain cultural norms have made their way into our habits and homes.
Of course, not all people in any group are the same. Many factors, including socioeconomic status and geography, influence our culture.
But over time, certain practices developed and influenced communities, and the reasons might shock you.
I never considered why many white people don’t use washcloths in the shower. But it’s true. In large part, white families wash their bodies with a bar of soap without a washcloth. Or a rag, as my lower-middle-class family used to call it.
On the other hand, the Black community has a centuries-old practice of using washcloths to bathe. Not that I shower with my friends, but the habit is well-known.
While doctors have hotly debated the benefits of using washcloths, Black people in this country have historically faced harmful stereotypes about cleanliness — with their very skin unjustly being called unclean.
As a result, many Black families strongly emphasized hygiene, incorporating washcloths into bathing for thorough cleansing.
This deeply ingrained discrimination impacted Black families profoundly during and in the generations after slavery. Today, using washcloths remains common in many Black households — not out of doubt of cleanliness, but as an intentional approach to hygiene.
Stereotypes about Black people being late similarly have racist origins.
The hours and minutes in our day are, in part, a social construct to mark progress, development and movement. Time allows us to review history and adapt so we can improve civilization.
That’s why we’ve marked periods by their technology and progress: the Iron Age, the Bronze Age, the Stone Age, the Industrial Age, and the Digital Age.
With the beginning of race-based slavery some 500 years ago, Black people were denied the freedom of progressing on their own terms. They weren’t given the individual liberty to mark their movements. To help write the history books.
Thus, Black communities experienced time differently for many generations, becoming part of people’s psyche on the most unconscious level.
Even though enslaved and marginalized people didn’t stop creating, inventing or progressing, for centuries Black people were excluded from society’s view of development and denied credit for their contributions.
And today, that’s why if you show up to a white barbecue two hours late, you might miss out on some good food, but if you show up to many Black barbecues on time, the food may not even be on the grill yet.
The practice of washing chickens and meat before cooking also stems from the experiences of enslaved Black people.
Enslaved Black people were often left to feed their families with scraps and less desirable ingredients, including cuts of meat. After enslavers took the parts of the animals considered the best, they would give what remained to enslaved people. As a result, Black people took extra care and time to wash things like chicken wings, feet and gizzards to make them safer to eat and more palatable.
Enslaved Black people also had access to crops like collard greens, mustard greens and black-eyed peas, all of which are grown in and retain soil — so not washing them thoroughly could result in dirt or bugs in food.
These experiences, while born out of necessity, became traditions that persist in modern American Black culture. Which is why many Black families still wash their food before cooking.
Meanwhile, many white families don’t feel the need to wash their chicken. “The heat will kill the bacteria,” they say.
As for raisins in potato salad, well, that white tradition isn’t steeped in racism. It’s just gross.
This post originally appeared on Medium and is edited and republished with author's permission. Read more of Jeffrey Kass' work on Medium.