Blog Post 4: Modern-Day Connections to Race

 Over the past month, I have been reading Race by Marc Aronson, an adventure that ended this week. Through Race, I have been exposed to many examples of race and its impact. Since I am done reading through the historical side of things, this week I wanted to offer an example of how race, and racism is still relevant in society.

As the past couple of years have shown us, racism is still prevalent in American society. This week I want to talk about the rebranding of the newly named Pearl Milling Company. Perhaps Pearl Milling Company is not a name that you recognize, but Aunt Jemima most likely is. The pancake brand shared they will rebrand due to the racist origins of the Aunt Jemima character. As one of the well-known brands in its category, Aunt Jemima is a brand that I have seen in countless kitchens throughout my life. Although my exposure to this brand has made me quite familiar with the smiling face of Aunt Jemima, I had not realized the racist backstory to the character until recently.

As I learned through articles on the matter, Aunt Jemima stems from the song "Old Aunt Jemima" which is a minstrel song from the 1800s (Hsu). Minstrel songs were performed at minstrel shows during the same period. Minstrel shows often contained White actors who, through blackface, portrayed themselves as African American and performed for other's entertainment. The blackface aspect of the minstrel shows Aunt Jemima stems from is similar to pillar one of Aronson's definition of race, "Physical differences matter." (pg 2). Minstrel shows were also used to make African Americans appear negatively, displaying traits like laziness and being clownish. 

Not only does the name of the brand Aunt Jemima have racist origins, so does the character design itself. Everyone can recognize Aunt Jemima on the front of a pancake mix box, but did you know that her character is designed after the mammy stereotype? Mammies were Black women in slavery who did things such as cooking, cleaning, and taking care of children for slaveholding families ("Mammy Stereotype"). The idea of the mammy stereotype relates to Aronson's fourth pillar of how race is perceived, "Each group has a distinct level of brain power and moral refinement, thus they are naturally and unchangeably ranked." (pg 3). At the time of her creation, people saw a Black woman as someone who would do tasks like cooking, therefore Aunt Jemima was the face of the brand. Over time, the company has changed certain aspects of the character's costume, opting for items that made her look well off instead of continuing to portray a woman in slavery. In 2020, the company that owns Aunt Jemima products stated that they would be replacing Aunt Jemima with Pearl Milling Company due to the racism that the brand displays. 

(A Aunt Jemima product from my kitchen which no longer portrays the namesake character)

Do you know of any other companies rebranding that had racist origins you were unaware of? I know that there are a number of them at the moment although Aunt Jemima is the only one that I have looked into thoroughly. If you happen to research other rebrandings of popular brands due to racism after reading this and find interesting backstories, feel free to share them in the comments.

Works Cited

Aronson, Marc. Race: A History beyond Black and White. New York, Atheneum Books for Young Readers, 2007.

Hsu, Tiffany. "Aunt Jemima Brand to Change Name and Image Over 'Racial Stereotype.'" The New York Times, 17 June 2020, www.nytimes.com/2020/06/17/business/media/aunt-jemima-racial-stereotype.html. Accessed 25 Mar. 2021.

"Mammy Stereotype." Wikipedia, 13 Feb. 2021, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mammy_stereotype.

            Accessed 26 Mar. 2021.