Is milk racist? A millennial writer thinks so

A college student at California State University — Long Beach, wrote an op-ed in her school's newspaper Monday claiming that milk is a symbol of racism and white nationalism.

Samantha Diaz, a staff writer for The Daily 49er, said that she believes her fellow millennials are being brainwashed into thinking milk is merely a drink people consume to strengthen their bones. But Diaz contends milk is actually a symbol of hate that many people haven't considered.

"If you’re having trouble finding the connection between these institutions and milk, you’re not alone. You, along with the rest of the nation, have been so accustomed to hearing the benefits of milk that you probably didn’t even realize the subtle racism hidden in our health facts," Diaz wrote in her piece titled, "Milk new symbol of hate?"

Diaz went on to explain that the country was founded on racism and that practically every facet of our government, such as voter ID laws and state testing, are rooted in racist undertones. She contended these racist roots are even attached to our federal dietary guidelines. Why? Because milk is pushed by the government, even though it is not beneficial to the health of some minorities, she claimed.

Citing a Mother Jones article claiming that blacks are affected by osteoporosis at a significantly lower rate than whites, though she used the terms "Africans" and "Americans," respectively, Diaz wrote that there is evidence to suggest blacks are harmed by high calcium intake.

"There is a strong correlation to calcium consumption and an increased risk of prostate cancer, unproportionally affecting African men," she said. "Furthermore, both black children and adults generally secrete less calcium on a daily basis than white people, making them less dependent upon milk."

"Remember that this is the dietary guidelines [sic] for Americans. I want to emphasize that last word. These guidelines are for Americans. This means they should reflect the health needs of the ethnicities that make up America which, news flash, isn’t just white people," Diaz continued.

In an attempt to bolster her argument by providing further examples, she recalled one isolated incident of men with neo-Nazi tattoos drinking milk to mock liberal actor Shia LeBeouf and a lone scene in the movie "Get Out," using these incidents to persuade her readers that milk is a symbol of hate.

"[The writer] artistically addresses the new medium of hate with one of the film’s most eerie scenes, which shows a white woman meticulously sipping milk from a bendy straw," Diaz claimed. "The scene would have gone unnoticed in the movie, but audiences were forced to notice the long, drawn-out frame of the woman taking a sip."

Diaz was clear about who she felt was to blame for this racist drink.

"And while there is little logic to the train of thoughts involved in choosing the next inanimate face of racism, our country’s health guidelines certainly take part of the blame for this one," she said.

Diaz urged her readers to fight for change, asserting that everyone is to blame until the fight is won.

"Until we recognize the racist roots in our own systems of government and fight to remove them, we are all in part responsible for the white, creamy form of racism currently taking hold in our country," she concluded.