Conservatives freaking out over the removal of Aunt Jemima

[ZiprHead]

This story is being spread on social media.:

The world knew her as "Aunt Jemima," but her given name was Nancy Green and she was a true American success story. She was born a slave in 1834 Montgomery County, KY... and became a wealthy superstar in the advertising world, as its first living trademark.

Green was 56-yrs old when she was selected as spokesperson for a new ready-mixed, self-rising pancake flour and made her debut in 1893 at a fair and exposition in Chicago. She demonstrated the pancake mix and served thousands of pancakes... and became an immediate star. She was a good storyteller, her personality was warm and appealing, and her showmanship was exceptional. Her exhibition booth drew so many people that special security personnel were assigned to keep the crowds moving.

Nancy Green was signed to a lifetime contract, traveled on promotional tours all over the country, and was extremely well paid. Her financial freedom and stature as a national spokesperson enabled her to become a leading advocate against poverty and in favor of equal rights for folks in Chicago.

She maintained her job until her death in 1923, at age 89.

This was a remarkable woman... and she has just been ERASED by politically correct liberal bedwetters.

According to Wiki...:

Aunt Jemima is based on the common "Mammy" stereotype, a character in minstrel shows in the late 1800s. Her skin is dark and dewy, with a pearly white smile. She wears a scarf over her head and a polka dot dress with a white collar, similar to the common attire and physical features of "mammy" characters throughout history.[12] A character named "Aunt Jemima" appeared on the stage in Washington, D.C., as early as 1864.[13]

The inspiration for Aunt Jemima was Billy Kersands' American-style minstrelsy/vaudeville song "Old Aunt Jemima", written in 1875. Rutt reportedly saw a minstrel show featuring the "Old Aunt Jemima" song in the fall of 1889, presented by blackface performers identified by Arthur F. Marquette as "Baker & Farrell".[8] Marquette recounts that the actor playing Aunt Jemima wore an apron and kerchief, and Rutt appropriated this Aunt Jemima character to market the Pearl Milling Company pancake mix in late 1889.[8][14]

However, author Doris Witt[15] was unable to confirm Marquette's account. Witt suggests that Rutt might have witnessed a performance by the vaudeville performer Pete F. Baker, who played a character described in newspapers of that era as "Aunt Jemima". If this is correct, the original inspiration for the Aunt Jemima character was a white male in blackface, whom some have described as a German immigrant.[10]

 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aunt_Jemima

The Wiki on Nancy Green:

Green was born into slavery on November 17, 1834, near Mount Sterling in Montgomery County, Kentucky.[4] She was hired in 1890[5] by the R.T. Davis Milling Company in St. Joseph, Missouri, to represent "Aunt Jemima", an advertising character named after a song from a minstrel show.[3] Davis Milling had recently acquired the formula to a ready-mixed, self-rising pancake flour from St. Joseph Gazette editor Chris L. Rutt and Charles Underwood and were looking to employ an African-American woman as a Mammy archetype to promote their new product.[6] In 1893 Green was introduced as Aunt Jemima at the World's Columbian Exposition held in Chicago, where it was her job to operate a pancake-cooking display. Her amicable personality and talent as a cook for the Walker family, whose children grew up to become Chicago Circuit Judge Charles M. Walker and Dr. Samuel Walker[7] helped establish a successful showing of the product, for which she received a medal and certificate from the Expo officials.[3] After the Expo, Green was offered a lifetime contract to adopt the Aunt Jemima moniker and promote the pancake mix. This marked the beginning of a major promotional push by the company that included thousands of personal appearances and Aunt Jemima merchandising. Nancy Green maintained her job with Davis Milling (which was renamed Aunt Jemima Mills Company in 1914)[8] until her death in 1923; she was still working as Aunt Jemima at the time.

A lawsuit claims that Nancy Green's heirs as well as other heirs from the other women used as Aunt Jemima models deserve $2 billion and a share of future revenue from the sales of popular demand. The federal lawsuit was filed in Chicago by another model (Anna Short Harrington)'s grandsons who claim that she and Green were the roots in creating the recipe for the nation's first self-proclaimed pancake mix. It also states that Green was the originator and came up with the idea of adding powdered milk for extra flavor in the pancakes. Quaker Oats, who is the current owner of the brand, says this image of Aunt Jemima was in fact fake and never real claiming that there are no trace of contracts between the women who displayed as Aunt Jemima models and their bosses.[9] The suit was dismissed as the heirs failed to prove that they were related to the woman who posed as Aunt Jemima. [10]

 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nancy_Green

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

Yeah, the key words are Aunt and Uncle. They ain’t family.

 

[Derec]

The whole thing is a ridiculous overreaction. Corporations competing over who will appear more "woke" to sell their products to the police haters.

 

[Toni]

Look, I’m pretty average white bread small town girl in the middle of fly over country with very conservative parents but even as a child, I was appalled at Aunt Jemima, Uncle Ben and Mrs. Buttersworth—not the names but the images that very much were built on stereotypes of happy domestic slavery. I’ve never understood how it was that the packaging never evolved beyond those stereotypes. Now it appears that things will be re-branded rather than updated.

 

[ZiprHead]

The whole thing is a ridiculous overreaction. Corporations competing over who will appear more "woke" to sell their products to the police haters.

Do you really need racist imagery on your pancake syrup?

 

[Derec]

Look, I’m pretty average white bread small town girl in the middle of fly over country with very conservative parents but even as a child, I was appalled at Aunt Jemima, Uncle Ben and Mrs. Buttersworth—not the names but the images that very much were built on stereotypes of happy domestic slavery. I’ve never understood how it was that the packaging never evolved beyond those stereotypes. Now it appears that things will be re-branded rather than updated.

I do not see what's stereotypical about these.


Uncle Ben looks like a distinguished older gentleman.
Aunt Jemima looks like a friendly woman.
Neither looks like a negative depiction in any way.

We will not get away from racial strife as long as one side is so hypersensitive (that the term "microaggression" is used without irony in so-called academia is a testament to that) and many on the other side are so eager to self-flagellate over what people who kinda looked like them did centuries ago.

 

[Derec]

Do you really need racist imagery on your pancake syrup?

I fail to see anything racist there.

 

[Jason Harvestdancer]

Will the also remove Barbara Bush from the Quaker Oatmeal box?

 

[thebeave]

I'd be curious to see a poll on what percentage of African Americans agree with snuffing out good ole Aunt Jemima and Uncle Ben. I'd be willing to bet a pretty big percentage of AAs like the two icons and would want them to stay. This strikes me as another case of a bunch of white guilt-laden corporate liberals treating blacks as if they are their pets, and need to decide what's best for them.

There's a nice looking black lady who does Popeye's chicken commercials in my area. I guess she's next on the chopping block? Will they replace her with some white chick, in the name of crushing racial stereotypes?

 

[ZiprHead]

Do you really need racist imagery on your pancake syrup?

I fail to see anything racist there.

While you are showing the "whitewashed image, here is the origins.:



Goddammit. For some reason, uploading pics is not working properly.

 

[J842P]

I do not see what's stereotypical about these.


Uncle Ben looks like a distinguished older gentleman.
Aunt Jemima looks like a friendly woman.
Neither looks like a negative depiction in any way.

We will not get away from racial strife as long as one side is so hypersensitive (that the term "microaggression" is used without irony in so-called academia is a testament to that) and many on the other side are so eager to self-flagellate over what people who kinda looked like them did centuries ago.

Well Aunt Jemima comes straight from minstrel shows. Jemima was a stock "mammy" character. It's clearly offensive.

 

[Toni]

Look, I’m pretty average white bread small town girl in the middle of fly over country with very conservative parents but even as a child, I was appalled at Aunt Jemima, Uncle Ben and Mrs. Buttersworth—not the names but the images that very much were built on stereotypes of happy domestic slavery. I’ve never understood how it was that the packaging never evolved beyond those stereotypes. Now it appears that things will be re-branded rather than updated.

I do not see what's stereotypical for about these.
View attachment 28236

Uncle Ben looks like a distinguished older gentleman.
Aunt Jemima looks like a friendly woman.
Neither looks like a negative depiction in any way.

We will not get away from racial strife as long as one side is so hypersensitive (that the term "microaggression" is used without irony in so-called academia is a testament to that) and many on the other side are so eager to self-flagellate over what people who kinda looked like them did centuries ago.

Those were not the images on the packages I grew up with. And they still bear the words Aunt and Uncle for people few white people would willingly and openly recognize as family. I’d ‘Uncle Ben’ is such a dignified gentleman, why isn’t he called Mister? Why isn’t she called Mrs.?

Even I knew that they looked nothing like any of my aunts or uncles—and that calling a black person Aunt or Uncle was NOT a recognition of nor invitation to shared kinship. No, it was so that grownups could pretend to themselves that they were teaching their children to respect ‘the coloreds ’ without dignifying them with a Mrs. or Mr.as we northern children were taught to use when speaking to adults. White adults, anyway.

Let’s be very clear here. Let’s be honest. The only way that Aunt Jemimah and Uncle Ben were ‘recognized’ as ‘part of the family’ was because they were owned by the family—or at the very best, were servants to the family. Family the same way but with much less care and expense or pride and love and affection as today peopl confer on their dogs and cats.

Shit I remember my father forbidding’ is to watch the tv showJulia rvause the titular character was a beautiful woman who was a nurse—acareer that required more education than my parents had the opppitunity to even aspire to.

That ‘one side’that you so casually dismiss is apparently just as unworthy of respect and consideration by people like you as they were 50 or 100 years ago. How, exactly, are you harmed by racist images and brand names being purged? And why does your imagined harm and potential inconvenience for having to learn a new brand name trump the pain that so many generations, including the present ones, have had to endure when the faces and names of ugly stereotypes stare them in the face in grocery store aisles?

If an ignorant little white girl could figure out that such images and names were shameful and denigrating and painful, why can’t you? And even if you do t understand it, why can you not simply accept that it IS painful for a lot of people? Why isn’t their pain enough for you to be willing to let a minor inconvenience to yourself pass without denigrating other peoples feelings? Why must you call that pain being ‘over sensitive?’ Why can you not recognize that the real issue is your lack of sensitivity and your inability to empathize with people who still are not treated as equal in this country?

 

[laughing dog]

The whole thing is a ridiculous overreaction. Corporations competing over who will appear more "woke" to sell their products to the police haters.

Why do you hate capitalism?

 

[Politesse]

The whole thing is a ridiculous overreaction. Corporations competing over who will appear more "woke" to sell their products to the police haters.

And getting legit angry about not having the same face on your pancake syrup as last year isn't a ridiculous over-reaction?

 

[Derec]

Those were not the images on the packages I grew up with.

But these are the images they want to remove because of their supposed "offensiveness".

And they still bear the words Aunt and Uncle for people few white people would willingly and openly recognize as family.

If either were my family I'd have no problem recognizing them as such.

But why are you so offended by "uncle" and "aunt"? Are these offensive terms?

I’d ‘Uncle Ben’ is such a dignified gentleman, why isn’t he called Mister? Why isn’t she called Mrs.?

And that's exactly what I meant by hypersensitivity and the desire of many white people (like you) to endlessly self-flagellate.

Even I knew that they looked nothing like any of my aunts or uncles—and that calling a black person Aunt or Uncle was NOT a recognition of nor invitation to shared kinship. No, it was so that grownups could pretend to themselves that they were teaching their children to respect ‘the coloreds ’ without dignifying them with a Mrs. or Mr.as we northern children were taught to use when speaking to adults. White adults, anyway.

Kids are often told to call close friends of their parents uncle and aunt. Unlike you, I do not see anything racist in the terms.

Let’s be very clear here. Let’s be honest. The only way that Aunt Jemimah and Uncle Ben were ‘recognized’ as ‘part of the family’ was because they were owned by the family—or at the very best, were servants to the family. Family the same way but with much less care and expense or pride and love and affection as today peopl confer on their dogs and cats.

Slavery ended over a century and a half ago. Few families can afford any servants and they are not necessarily black either.

Shit I remember my father forbidding’ is to watch the tv showJulia rvause the titular character was a beautiful woman who was a nurse—acareer that required more education than my parents had the opppitunity to even aspire to.

This sentence is making my eyes hurt. Julia who? Rvause?

That ‘one side’that you so casually dismiss is apparently just as unworthy of respect and consideration by people like you as they were 50 or 100 years ago.

By side I did not mean the entire race of people, just the ones forever playing the race card and having a chip on their shoulder about race.

How, exactly, are you harmed by racist images and brand names being purged?

I do not agree they are racist images. But anyway, I am not harmed per se, I just think it's ridiculous overreaction to George Floyd and that Rayshaead guy getting killed.

And why does your imagined harm and potential inconvenience for having to learn a new brand name trump the pain that so many generations, including the present ones, have had to endure when the faces and names of ugly stereotypes stare them in the face in grocery store aisles?

Really? Somebody is in pain because they see a package of Uncle Ben's rice? I don't buy it, except for Peter Parker of course.
Are people from the NE also broken and in pains when having to endure when the faces and names of this ugly stereotype stares them in the face in grocery store aisles?

I mean, he doesn't even have a name!

If an ignorant little white girl could figure out that such images and names were shameful and denigrating and painful, why can’t you?

Because I think you learned the wrong lesson.

And even if you do t understand it, why can you not simply accept that it IS painful for a lot of people? Why isn’t their pain enough for you to be willing to let a minor inconvenience to yourself pass without denigrating other peoples feelings? Why must you call that pain being ‘over sensitive?’

I wonder what percentage of black people are bothered by Uncle Ben and Aunt Jemima. Or is it mostly a guilt-tripping white liberal kind of problem?

Why can you not recognize that the real issue is your lack of sensitivity and your inability to empathize with people who still are not treated as equal in this country?

Given things like affirmative action or the double standards in every aspect of US society (extending even to advertising figures), I would say that black people are treated as more than equal.

 

[Derec]

Why do you hate capitalism?

If purposely misunderstanding was an Olympic sport, you could go to Tokyo next year.

 

[Politesse]

I see no reason why black people should be embarassed by these stereotypes. I do see a very good reason why white folks should be. Some things are better left in the past.

 

[Derec]

While you are showing the "whitewashed image, here is the origins.:

It's not whitewashed image, it's the very images that are at issue here.

 

[Arctish]

But these are the images they want to remove because of their supposed "offensiveness".


If either were my family I'd have no problem recognizing them as such.

But why are you so offended by "uncle" and "aunt"? Are these offensive terms?

That's a good question. It gets into how those terms are understood in the context of American society when the brands debuted and throughout the 20th and early 21st centuries.

Do you know why Uncle Remus wasn't called Mr. Remus by those two white children in Song of the South? If you do, then you know why 'Uncle' Ben and 'Aunt' Jemima are problematic brand names, especially when paired with their original artwork.

I’d ‘Uncle Ben’ is such a dignified gentleman, why isn’t he called Mister? Why isn’t she called Mrs.?

And that's exactly what I meant by hypersensitivity and the desire of many white people (like you) to endlessly self-flagellate.

Ah, but here you give the game away.

Using a proper title of respect for those black characters offends you much you equate it with self-flagellation.

This isn't about you wanting to preserve a beloved brand of pancake mix, it's about you defending racist caricatures.

 

[ideologyhunter]

The Cream of Wheat man (sometimes called the chef, as he is depicted in a fluffy chef's hat) was originally called Rastus. There's a 1922 ad (I haven't found a transportable pic) where he's holding up a chalk slate that reads:
Maybe Cream of Wheat aint got no vitamines. I don't know what them things is. If they's bugs they aint none in Cream of Wheat but she's sho good to eat and cheap. Costs about 1 cent fo' a great big dish. -Rastus
Actually, I haven't heard or seen anything about this issue outside of talkfreethought, but the companies have. The original ad figures did, beyond question it seems to me, emphasize the menial jobs set aside for black America, the perceived ignorance and comic nature of the characters, and the extreme condescension of using terms like 'Auntie' and 'Uncle' in addressing older black citizens (it was actually an end run around using the respectful Mr. and Mrs., which in Jim Crow times was abhorred.) At a time when nerves are rubbed raw and racial tensions are high, it might be time to quietly retire the modern revisions on the old stereotypical ad characters. Who's going to miss them? Trump? I can hear it: "Those who ignore their breakfast food traditions..."