The Black Lives Matter movement has sparked so many changes to different industries and you could say that, compared to previous stages of the movement, more noticeable progress and developments have been made. This is probably for several different reasons, including the expansion of social media. We’ve all seen how powerful ‘Gen Z’ has become, taking their future into their own hands; implementing change, creating diversity and justice in their world by educating themselves and learning the truth about racism.
The murder of George Floyd and recent BLM support has brought justice all around the world to victims of police brutality. Now, it is so much more than that. People are waking up to the problems and starting to confront the systemic racism that rules our society. In pretty much every part of life, people of black heritage are discriminated against for no reason other than the colour of their skin. This isn’t fair and it needs to be changed now.
By listening to the voices of the black community that have screamed, so desperate to be heard, for way too long, the necessary changes are slowly being made. I think that unless you experience anything personally, you can never really fully understand it, even if you think that you do. How can white people think that they could ever understand the extent of racism faced by every black person ever day? It’s things that they would never even consider.
If you haven’t experienced racism yourself, you might not have noticed that in the history of the Oscars, only 29 black actors have won awards, this means that only about 9% of awards were won by people of colour. You might not know about the Windrush scandal or that black people are at least 8 times more likely to be stopped and searched by police in the UK than white people even though there are 29 white people for every 1 black person. Racism is innocent black people thinking about what they wear, whether it could be considered ‘suspicious clothing’ by police whereas a white person would never have to worry about it. Not just this but due to the inequalities in employment, jobs and living areas for black people, under-supported and ignored by the government, the coronavirus pandemic is having an even more devastating impact on people from BAME backgrounds.
If you haven’t experienced racism yourself, you might not have noticed that in the history of the Oscars, only 29 black actors have won awards, this means that only about 9% of awards were won by people of colour. You might not know about the Windrush scandal or that black people are at least 8 times more likely to be stopped and searched by police in the UK than white people even though there are 29 white people for every 1 black person. Racism is innocent black people thinking about what they wear, whether it could be considered ‘suspicious clothing’ by police whereas a white person would never have to worry about it. Not just this but due to the inequalities in employment, jobs and living areas for black people, under-supported and ignored by the government, the coronavirus pandemic is having an even more devastating impact on people from BAME backgrounds.
Racism in the form of stereotypes based on the history of slavery of black people, typically in America has been the foundation for many food brands including Aunt Jemima - famous for its pancake mix and syrup and Uncle Ben’s who make rice.
For decades, Quaker Oats knew that one of its major brands, Aunt Jemima, was built on racist imagery. The company inched toward fixing the problem over the years, replacing the kerchief on the Aunt Jemima character’s head with a plaid headband in 1968, and adding pearl earrings and a lace collar in 1989. Dominique Wilburn, who worked as an executive assistant at PepsiCo for several years had joined an effort to come up with a rebranding campaign for Aunt Jemima in 2016. In her group of six people, she was the only person of colour, and no changes were made. It took the BLM protest and the growth of the movement for the debated and constantly reviewed changes to actually take place; it was not until a few weeks ago that Quaker Oats announced it would drop the Aunt Jemima name and change the packaging all together.
The history of the brand is definitely linked to slavery and stereotypes based on a black woman working as a slave. The founders of the brand hired a former slave to portray Aunt Jemima at the 1893 World’s Fair in Chicago. In the 1930s, after Quaker Oats bought the brand, the character was played in a radio series by a white actress who had performed in blackface on Broadway. A 1954 magazine ad showed Aunt Jemima superimposed over an image of a plantation and a riverboat.
Riché Richardson, an associate professor of African-American literature at Cornell University, called for an end to the Aunt Jemima character in a 2015 opinion essay in The Times. In an interview, she said, “It is a symbol that is rooted in the ‘Mammy’ stereotype, that is premised on notions of black otherness and inferiority, that harkens back to a time when black people were thought of and idealized mainly in relation to servant positions.”
Kristin Kroepfl, the Quaker Oats chief marketing officer, said in a statement, “While work has been done over the years to update the brand in a manner intended to be appropriate and respectful, we realize those changes are not enough. We will continue the conversation by gathering diverse perspectives from both our organisation and the black community to further evolve the brand and make it one everyone can be proud of to have in their pantry.”
This has been done before: PepsiCo had an advertising character; the Frito Bandito, from 1967 to 1971. Frito Bandito played into the stereotype of a sombrero-wearing, Mexican cowboy who robbed people of their Fritos. Mexican American activists spoke out against Bandito and it took about four years for the character to finally be retired. There were some strong similarities between Frito Bandito and Aunt Jemima in that both were recognizable, popular, and a success in the eyes of the advertising and marketing sectors. Quaker Oats (Aunt Jemima) is owned by the same company as that which used to own Frito Bandito: PepsiCo. Even though the company has said that they acknowledge Aunt Jemima’s being founded on a racist stereotype, the fact that Aunt Jemima hadn’t been actually reformed before now- Aunt Jemima had been owned by PepsiCo since 2001- is frustrating.
For decades, Quaker Oats knew that one of its major brands, Aunt Jemima, was built on racist imagery. The company inched toward fixing the problem over the years, replacing the kerchief on the Aunt Jemima character’s head with a plaid headband in 1968, and adding pearl earrings and a lace collar in 1989. Dominique Wilburn, who worked as an executive assistant at PepsiCo for several years had joined an effort to come up with a rebranding campaign for Aunt Jemima in 2016. In her group of six people, she was the only person of colour, and no changes were made. It took the BLM protest and the growth of the movement for the debated and constantly reviewed changes to actually take place; it was not until a few weeks ago that Quaker Oats announced it would drop the Aunt Jemima name and change the packaging all together.
The history of the brand is definitely linked to slavery and stereotypes based on a black woman working as a slave. The founders of the brand hired a former slave to portray Aunt Jemima at the 1893 World’s Fair in Chicago. In the 1930s, after Quaker Oats bought the brand, the character was played in a radio series by a white actress who had performed in blackface on Broadway. A 1954 magazine ad showed Aunt Jemima superimposed over an image of a plantation and a riverboat.
Riché Richardson, an associate professor of African-American literature at Cornell University, called for an end to the Aunt Jemima character in a 2015 opinion essay in The Times. In an interview, she said, “It is a symbol that is rooted in the ‘Mammy’ stereotype, that is premised on notions of black otherness and inferiority, that harkens back to a time when black people were thought of and idealized mainly in relation to servant positions.”
Kristin Kroepfl, the Quaker Oats chief marketing officer, said in a statement, “While work has been done over the years to update the brand in a manner intended to be appropriate and respectful, we realize those changes are not enough. We will continue the conversation by gathering diverse perspectives from both our organisation and the black community to further evolve the brand and make it one everyone can be proud of to have in their pantry.”
This has been done before: PepsiCo had an advertising character; the Frito Bandito, from 1967 to 1971. Frito Bandito played into the stereotype of a sombrero-wearing, Mexican cowboy who robbed people of their Fritos. Mexican American activists spoke out against Bandito and it took about four years for the character to finally be retired. There were some strong similarities between Frito Bandito and Aunt Jemima in that both were recognizable, popular, and a success in the eyes of the advertising and marketing sectors. Quaker Oats (Aunt Jemima) is owned by the same company as that which used to own Frito Bandito: PepsiCo. Even though the company has said that they acknowledge Aunt Jemima’s being founded on a racist stereotype, the fact that Aunt Jemima hadn’t been actually reformed before now- Aunt Jemima had been owned by PepsiCo since 2001- is frustrating.
Quaker Oats said it would donate at least $5 million over the next five years “to create meaningful, ongoing support and engagement in the Black community.”
So many other food brands have been built on racial stereotypes and ideas that are no longer socially acceptable. For a long time, some shoppers have been uncomfortable supporting regular household brands that host the kind of branding and message of slavery and racism. Other food brands, including Cream of Wheat, Land O’Lakes and Uncle Ben’s, marketed themselves in the last century with racist stereotypes.
B&G Foods said that it was initiating a review of its Cream of Wheat packaging to “take steps to ensure that we and our brands do not inadvertently contribute to systemic racism.” Land O’Lakes had started removing stereotypical Native American imagery from many of its products before the recent protests.
Uncle Ben’s rice is making changes too; “As we listen to the voices of consumers, especially in the black community, and to the voice of our associates worldwide, we recognise that now is the right time to evolve the Uncle Ben’s brand, including its visual brand identity, which we will do,” the company said. “Racism has no place in society. We stand in solidarity with the black community, our associates and our partners in the fight for social justice.” Mars (the company that owns Uncle Ben’s) said it was evaluating all possibilities for changes to the product, which could include a new name.“We don’t yet know what the exact changes or timing will be, but we will evolve Uncle Ben’s visual brand identity,” the company said.
With all the new changes to the racism which has been ingrained in our culture and daily lives, we are slowly starting to untie the horrible and chaotic mess of systemic racism all over the world. However, its not this easy or straight forward.
By changing the name on a packet of rice, you’re not helping much in my opinion. True, it is stopping the continuation of the pain to those who were uncomfortable buying a product which was built on and showcased the time when their ancestors were used brutally as salves. But I think this is simply not enough.
Eradicating and erasing systemic racism from food packets and marketing many have been ‘discussed’ among companies previously but nothing ever came from it. What is the point of it then if nothing actually changes? Its all due to the recent screams for equality that have forced these changes on people who were either too scared to change before or weren’t ready to properly address the issue of racism and how it affects every corner of society. Slowly, we are realising that hate is not the answer and racism is so deep rooted in history and society; the only way of changing this is by talking to each other about it and accepting the responsibility and privilege to enforce change.
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