The Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwich Controversy

I worry that we are not focusing on the big picture here.  This week a Portland K-8 pricipal Verenice Gutierrez called the sandwich an example of racism and 'white privledge'.
“What about Somali or Hispanic students, who might not eat sandwiches?” Gutierrez said. “Another way would be to say: ‘Americans eat peanut butter and jelly, do you have anything like that?’ Let them tell you. Maybe they eat torta. Or pita.”  So she is calling this subtle racisim.  I think it is worse than that.  She doesn't think the Somali or Hispanic children are American.
I think that sounds more like the problem that we need to address rather than the peanut butter and jelly sandwich--especially since it appears that the average high school graduate in the United States has eaten 1500 of them over the course of their life to date.  Some might see it as 'white privledge', but in my experience it is an act of convenience.  The ingredients are inexpensive, have a long shelf life once opened, are universally popular, and it is a sandwich that when assembled the night before tends to improve rather than deteriorate over the next 24 hours.  The privledge that PB&J offers is open to children of all cultures.
When would Gutierrez suggest that you would become American?  When you no longer eat tortas?  When you can identify with a sandwich as a lunch time option?  When you find a PB&J in your lunch bag?
More so than any other country, the United States has cultural influences from around the world.  That is the beauty of our country, the great advantage that we have, and so seldom celebrate.
Two things.  I think that the sandwich-equivalent is one of the few universal foods that the world shares.  So a sanwich, per se, would be one of the things that is universally recognized--falafel on pita, caranitas tortas, steamed pork buns, smörgåsbord, gaisby, stuffed naan, banh mi.  While it can be argued that colonialization has caused a mixing of European and indigenous foods, it doesn't render Americans of all cultural backgrounds incapable of recognizing the sandwich.
Secondly, peanut butter is a late arrival on the American scene.  It wasn't until 1900 that we had peanut butter at all.  It is a fair assessment that combining it with fruit jam and assembling it between two pieces of white bread is the America of the 1950's putting it's very personal stamp on the sandwich.
I suggest it is time to get over the PB&J controversy and focus on the issues that are more directly related to creating a welcoming and multicultural school environment for all Americans.