Chatting the Pictures: Race and Trump’s Fast Food Feast at the White House

Welcome to the latest edition of Chatting the Pictures, a weekly, micro-edition of the Reading the Pictures Salon. In each webcast, co-hosts Michael Shaw, publisher of Reading the Pictures, and writer and historian, Cara Finnegan, discuss prominent photos in the news.

The photo this week was taken by Joshua Roberts for Reuters. In the picture, we see mostly African-Americans, both White House servers and Clemson University football players, at a White House fast food dinner. The event, honoring the college champions, was held during the government shutdown (as the White House employees worked without pay). The event and photos of the scene garnered huge buzz, but the attention mostly centered on Trump’s state of mind or the banality of the scene. Our discussion, consistent with the photo, focused on the racial context.

You can find all the Chatting the Pictures replays here.

Photo: Joshua Roberts/Reuters

Caption: A server places hamburgers in the State Dining Room of the White House.