2020-06-19

And then they came for...

Now they've taken away your beloved Aunt Jemima.

It was announced on Wednesday morning that the line of pancake mix, syrup, and other breakfast foods will be debut a new look as part of Quaker’s push to “to make progress toward racial equality.”

“We recognize Aunt Jemima’s origins are based on a racial stereotype," said Kristin Kroepfl, vice president and chief marketing officer of Quaker Foods North America, in a statement shared with Fox News. “As we work to make progress toward racial equality through several initiatives, we also must take a hard look at our portfolio of brands and ensure they reflect our values and meet our consumers’ expectations."
Actually, stop me if you've heard this before, but Aunt Jemima is based on a real person that BlackHistory.com actually promoted. The name "Aunt Jemima" was from a blackface woman in a minstrel show, and the two white founders of the company decided to find and cast a black actress in the role. This was, as you might guess, the progressive view in 1889.

But now the woke mob has come for her. Nevermind that since the 1960s Aunt Jemima has never been based on a real person. Instead she has continued to get younger and thinner, but that's because modern audiences are less likely to associate an older overweight woman with quality foods. Instead Aunt Jemima has been a weird mix of sex appeal and authenticity. It's worth noting that Uncle Ben has continued to get older and older so he now more resembles Morgan Freeman than a black Mr. Hooper. Uncle Ben, by the way, is also being possibly phased out.

Apparently one of the big objections of Aunt Jemima is that she used to wear a headscarf. Seriously. I guess in their twisted view of the world this woman is culturally appropriating slave clothing.



Bonus WTF: The creator of the original Aunt Jemima minstrel show was not only black but appears to be Eddie Murphy having traveled back in time.