There was a lot of uproar in 2020 when Quaker Oats declared that its “Aunt Jemima” brand will be phased out in response to the Black Lives Matter movement.
Just one day after the decision was made public, a great-grandson of “Aunt Jemima” opposed to it, saying that the family believed it would only help to whitewash black history and suffering.
“My family and I feel that this is an injustice. Larnell Evans Sr., a veteran of the Marine Corps, said, “This is a part of my history.” Following years of profiting from slavery, the company was then charged with trying to put an end to it.
“The bigotry they discuss, which is rooted in imagery of enslavement, originates with white people on the other side. The firm benefits from depictions of our enslavement. Their response is to obliterate the past of my great-grandmother. A woman of African descent. It aches.
According to Quaker Oats, the brand, whose logo features a black woman named Nancy Green who was formerly a slave, will be permanently removed. Despite the fact that Green was born into slavery, reports claim that Quaker merely referred to her as a “storyteller, cook, and missionary worker.”
When Green received a contract to serve pancakes at the Chicago World’s Fair in 1893, the “Aunt Jemima” brand name was initially employed. After Anna Short Harrington passed away in 1923, a Quaker Oats official chose to name her “Aunt Jemima” after seeing her serve pancakes at the New York State Fair. According to Larnell Evans Sr., his great-grandmother was Anna Short Harrington. 1935 saw her take on the role.
Evans stated: “She spent twenty years working for that Quaker Oats.” Serving as Aunt Jemima to them, she traversed the entirety of the United States and Canada preparing pancakes.
“All those people were served by this woman, and it was after slavery. Her job title was Aunt Jemima. That was her responsibility. As a black man sitting here telling you about my family’s history that they’re attempting to erase, how do you think I feel?
Evans is outraged, especially because Quaker Oats intends to remove the brand, that the alliance was able to profit off a racial stereotype before rapidly moving on when it became expedient.
“How many white folks grew up seeing cartoon characters like Aunt Jemima every morning while they had breakfast? How many white firms took all the money and gave us nothing in return? Evans stated.
Are they simply going to obliterate history as if it never happened? .. They won’t leave us in the dark? Why do they have the right?
It seems that there has been a lot of talk on this. What are your thoughts on this matter? Kindly leave your thoughts in the comments below.
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