Aunt Jemima: Rebranding A Brand Built On Racial Stereotypes
“Aunt Jemima” has been a controversial figure for well over 100 years with the brand being built on racial stereotypes dating back to the Jim Crow era. We discuss its origins and the recent name change and rebrand to the “Pearl Milling Company”.
By: Emily-Ann
In the spirit of Black History Month celebration, let’s talk about the Quaker Oats rebranding campaign with the Aunt Jemima line. I am so happy they removed the image. As a young child I remember watching A Different World tv show, Whitley brought out the dolls and the image of Aunt Jemima was put up for the full display for their showcase. It is still my favorite episode to this day!
In this episode, the conversational piece brought up mixed emotions and feelings and put a spotlight on the hate driven black face caricatures. Kimberly, a black medical student, was having a hard time because she was comparing her beauty to this false image of black women. Kimberly’s traumas of her childhood was due to the direct impact on how she viewed herself, self-worth, and beauty.
The Aunt Jemima image was on their products for decades. My question for Quaker Oats, “Why did it take so long for these racist images to be removed off of products and store shelves?” I remember this brand from my childhood and not being a fan of the box. I vowed that I would never purchase any of these products for this reason. I didn’t fully understand the magnitude of the black woman on the box but even as a child I knew it was wrong.
The pancake mix was developed in 1888-1989 by the Pearl Milling Company and advertised as the first ready pancake mix. The maple syrup was added later to the Aunt Jemima line. The woman on the box was a racially driven caricature that became popular in the south by white men. I’d like to give you some background on why this image is horrible and should have never been on any box in first place, never mind on store shelves. The figures were also over-sexualized, often depicted as black elderly obese, with deep skin tone, and dressed in the typical slave attire for the time period.
The company tried to modernize the image to make it more socially acceptable to hide the dark past of its origins. They removed her head scarf and removed the evident slave attire. The truth was always there and nothing could change the dark history that has been embedded in human history. The women who inspired this image were often referred to on the plantations as Mammies and forced to be wet nurses for white children, often neglecting their own children due to the demands of their white masters.
The dehumanization of the black enslaved women continued throughout the south to the Jim Crow era. It perpetuated the stereotype that black women were happy being slaves to white families. It gave a false narrative that the enslaved women were not interested in caring for their own families or children. This is obviously false, black women were either enslaved or worked as domestic help (the only jobs they could get) during these eras.
They encouraged the narrative of white men viewing women of color as sex objects and property. Often these black women were in danger of being raped by white men in the household or on the plantation. Women who were married were victims of this abuse, and the enslaved husbands of the enslaved wives couldn’t do anything to protect them. It was one of many ways they showed dominance and mental chess to keep power.
The children of these horrible crimes were the evidence of these actions and would infuriate the white’s mistresses of the households or plantation. Thus, the cycle of abuse by both master and mistress would continue for many enslaved black women, and they would often run away. Few incidents of consensual sexual relations have been recorded. However, enslaved black women were viewed and treated like property.
The mammy caricature was also used to sell many things during the Jim Crow era like breakfast foods, detergents, planters, ashtrays, sewing accessories, and beverages. Why the obsession with these horrible items still baffles me. Why would anyone want to be forcibly taken away, stripped of your native tongue, culture, and be auctioned off ? On top of that, they turn around and make caricatures to glorify the evidence of their crimes. No one in their right mind would want to endure such a horrible experience committed so openly by the enslavers. Looking at these items reminds the survivors and the descendants of the traumatic experiences.
Aunt Jemima was portrayed by a woman named Nancy Green. Nancy Green, a former slave who was born in Kentucky in 1834, portrayed the false Aunt Jemima until her death in 1923. Nancy Green played the role of Aunt Jemima for R.T Davis Company to continue the narrative, and portray false imagery of the happy enslaved women serving her white family. The company had her serving pancakes mix across the country, fairs, and flea-markets, telling false stories of happy days in the south between whites and blacks. The image and character she played would have her fighting her own personal battles. Feeding her family or portraying the false narrative that she knows personally isn’t true. Goodbye Aunt Jemima and it looks like Uncle Ben will also be getting a rebranding. Quaker Oats, it’s about time I guess it’s better late than never!
"I'se in town, honey."- Nancy Green, Aunt Jamima
The Aunt Jemima Model List
Nancy Green - 1923
Anna Robinson - 1933
Edith Wilson-1948 & 1966
Let us know your thoughts in the comment section. Don’t forget to like and share on all social media platforms.
YOU MAY ALSO BE INTERESTED IN:
SHARE TO SOCIAL MEDIA
2020, The Year Of Awakening And Re-Adjusting: Racial Tension, Protests, And A Pandemic
The start of 2020 brought excitement for a new decade, but ultimately brought unforeseen changes. A pandemic, and growing racial tensions have forced Americans to focus on bringing in a new “normal”.
Nick Cannon Speaking Out at a Protest For George Floyd - STAR TRIBUNE VIA GETTY IMAGES
By: James Teague
Everything that’s been happening so far isn’t a coincidence. When the new year started, everybody proclaimed that 2020 was going to be the year of clear vision as we closed a chapter of the last decade. But ever since the year started, it has been a chain of bizarre events that have occurred.
I know for me, everything started when we lost our NBA childhood hero Kobe “Bean” Bryant. It still doesn’t sit right with me that physically Black Mamba is no longer here with us. Next up, was the introduction of COVID-19, an unknown virus that suddenly spread worldwide causing a global pandemic. At first America didn't think too much about Coronavirus for it to really be a threat and took things lightly. But suddenly the number of people that came into contact with COVID increased, which then caused all of America to shut down and quarantine.
Everybody transitioned from working in their offices to working from home while other workers who still had to stay outside in the public due to their place of employment were deemed essential. These turn of events caused jobs to either place their employees on furlough or make major budget cuts by letting go of their employees. The unemployment rate was said to have been at 13.3 percent, but recently it was discovered that an error was made with the May numbers of unemployment and that it should be higher.
We sat back and witnessed the government give big corporations unchecked billions of dollars for bailout meanwhile Americans experiencing unemployment only received a one time $1200 stimulus check payment to cover for four months of quarantine. Not only was the stimulus check not enough to cover for all of the months of quarantine but some households still have yet to receive their money. Then as the curve for COVID-19 started to slowly flatten, Trump and his cronies all decided they wanted to prematurely open America back up while unemployment was still high and citizens were still in need of financial assistance. The government showed that they failed to act by not putting enough effort in assisting American in our time of need.
Tension is rising between Americans and the government. Citizens were getting frustrated watching the government lose focus on assisting those heavily impacted by COVID-19. The political parties were all too focused on saving their own asses by pointing fingers at each other while either have provided very little updates on a vaccine to battle against coronavirus. I started watching this thinking to myself like ”I really can’t believe that I'm watching this unveil in front of our eyes. It feels like this is nothing but a sick joke.” At first I thought to myself that “things just couldn't get any worse. But then I learned that death comes in 3’s.
It first started off with the death of Ahmad Arbery, who was killed by a racist father and son duo while he was jogging midway through a neighborhood in Brunswick, Georgia. Then next up, was Breonna Taylor who was murdered in her own home while in her sleep by the Louisville Metro Police Department. The final straw was the death of George Floyd as footage was released of Police officer Derek Chauvin with his hands in pockets acting nonchalant while his knees were to the back of George Floyd’s neck for 8 minutes and 46 seconds.
To be Black in America and know that racism and police brutality can still happen to us even while in a Global Pandemic is just egregious. To get reminded that we’re not safe by either the coronavirus, the police department, and the government is insane. We’re really experiencing two pandemics and one of them has been continuous for the last 400 years even with the quote on quote “minor changes” in America.
So here we are again having to repeat again and go back outside to protest our right except this time this is occurring in the middle of a pandemic. But as I watched through social media how the protests around America started one by one, I started noticing how different the energy was this time around. When the protest first started, I saw how everybody was letting their frustrations out through the looting and destruction of Target and some of the high end stores in Phipps Plaza. But then afterwards, the protest started to become more focused and executed with a purpose.
Each protest was bigger than the last and we started gaining more allies. I started seeing more people who weren’t black were finally waking up and understanding what we’ve been trying to tell people for decades now about what we experience. And all it took was a Global Pandemic to shut down work, sports, entertainment, and vacations in order for people to sit down and really see what we were trying to tell them. And to top it off, we were starting to see some progress actually being made through the protests and riots such as the killers of Ahmaud Arbery finally getting arrested and charged for his murder.
Jamie Foxx Speaking At A Protest For George Floyd
Throughout my 29 years here living here I don’t think I’ve even seen anything like what’s been going with all of these events. Even comparing how the protests were this year compared to when Mike Brown died in Ferguson, there'’s been so much that’s been unveiled to us during this time. I don't know if this is just me but with everything that’s been revealed around us, it feels like we’re experiencing a reckoning. Police brutaliy, murder, civil unrest, protest, violence, racists, rapists, mysogynists all being exposed, old systems and beliefs dying out, and the plight of black women and black men is sums up 2020.. And all it took was for a global pandemic to shut life activities down and force those to sit down and watch.
This is the end of the “normal” life that we once used to know and now we’re being forced to re-adjust into this “new normal.” This awakening is not only happening in the world but it is also happening in our own personal lives. By the unveiling of these ugly truths about what’s going on in the world, the universe is really giving us a chance to look deep within ourselves to re-evaluate who we are, where we stand (mentally, spiritually, & morally), our goals, dreams, and decide where we want our lives to be during this decade.
We really have an opportunity to make necessary changes to improve the trajectory of our lives. We have a chance to get our spirits right and move with more purpose and urgency. I don't know about you but I'm seeing more people move more intentionally and with purpose on how to get the poor leadership in america to really pay attention to what we’re telling them.
Everybody has a story. We all have all been placed here in this world for a specific purpose and right now is the appropriate time to self reflect in order to figure out where to start your walk. Now even though there’s change going on around us we also need to keep in mind there's distractions all around us and they can come in many different forms. One form of a distraction can come from media propaganda like how they’ve either portrayed the protestors or how they’ve pushed the topic of COVID-19. Another form of distraction is paying attention to how the government is pushing to prematurely open all of America back up for the sake of the economy and putting out mixed information to deceive the viewer on what the numbers are for COVID 19.
Another source of distractions can be through social media if not used properly. With google around and people telling others to just “google,” there is a mass amount of false information on the internet that one can read and attempt to spread in an attempt to educate and its dangerous how quickly that information gets around. Add that in and mic it with certain trending topics and some may lose our focus and its ok. We’re humans and we’re going to get sidetracked from time to time. But we must stay tapped in before we’re able to become our higher selves.
I don’t know about y’all but I don’t want to go back to how life used to be especially now since we are living in the new revolution. We’re all starting to find our voices and speaking out for the voiceless. We have to constantly remember that this is a marathon and not a sprint. Change doesn't happen overnight and we have long ways to go. Truth be told, we’re probably not going to really see true progress until decades later when our children's grandchildren are in our shoes as young adults. But until then, we have a responsibility to find our roles in this revolution and dedicate ourselves to making the changes that we love to see not only in the world but in ourselves.
We can not only create a social reform in society but we can also get back focused on those life dreams we have and create the dream lives we want. So many of us got back refocused because of this pandemic and have been making progress in our goals, dreams, etc. We truly have the power in our hands to become the change we see in our vision. So make it count.
YOU MAY ALSO BE INTERESTED IN:
SHARE TO SOCIAL MEDIA
Black People Are Tired Of Having The Cops Called On Them For Nothing
Why can’t black people just exist in peace without white people calling the police? Everyday we hear of a new incident, so when will the blatant racism end? It’s time for people to start minding their business.
By: Omar Cook
Is there a secret agenda that white people have going on that says anytime I see a black person doing ANYTHING, I should call the cops on them? I mean damn! Black people can’t do SHIT without having to deal with this issue, and it is an issue. Every other day, we see a new video pop up on the timeline showing a white person calling the cops on a black person for merely existing. It’s out of control and black people are tired of the blatant racism.
>> SEE ALSO: Black Lives Matter Is Raising Money But Where Is It Going?
We’ve seen videos of black people having the cops called on them for having a bbq in the park. Is eating and having fun a crime now? Why can’t yall just mind your business? It’s not that serious. We’ve seen videos of cops being called for a black person being suspected of kidnapping white kids, when they were actually the babysitter! Look, no reasonable black person has an agenda to kidnap some white kids. We really aren’t that concerned to be doing shit like that.
We’ve seen videos of a white lady trying to block off a black man from entering an apartment building, that he lived at! Like damn, we gotta report to yall before we enter our place of residence? Recently a video just surfaced of a black man visiting his mother at a housing complex and a white man called the cops on him. And another video surfaced of a white woman calling the cops on a black for talking to his son at a soccer game! Bruh. we can’t visit our parents? We can’t give our children constructive criticism at a sporting event without running the risk of being arrested? What can we do white people?? I’m asking.
>> SEE ALSO: Make Racists Afraid Again: Army Sergeant Jonathan Pentland Charged With Assault
We’ve seen the video of the white lady calling the cops on a 9 year old boy, because she suspected he grabbed her butt. A whole 9 year old. And even after the surveillance proved that he just brushed by her, the lady still stuck to her story. Incidents like this is what gets black people killed. We live in a digital age where these incidents can be caught on camera, but people like Emmitt Till were less fortunate by being a victim to such incidents. A whole 60 years later and black people are still being falsely accused of things.
I could give examples for days because there’s just that many incidents where this has happened. It’s a phenomenon. It’s tough out here being black. We run the risk of having to deal with the cops just for stepping foot outside the house. Why does the color of our skin scare you guys so much? It’s a skin color, it’s harmless. You can present all these types of incidents to certain white people and they still won’t acknowledge that this is a real issue. And they wonder why Kaepernick kneels, or at least they choose to be oblivious to it. “Disrespectful to the flag” they say. Well shit, we feel disrespected by white people not minding your business!
At the end of the day, we just want the racism to stop so we can coexist in peace. We want to be able to breathe, see our family members, attend sporting events, and just live out our days without the nonsense. It’s possible that we can all live amongst each other without the hatred and racism. Next time you see a black person existing in peace, just leave them alone. It’s not that difficult.
YOU MAY ALSO BE INTERESTED IN:
Meet Emily-Ann Brown, contributing writer to 247 Live Culture!