With the recent announcement by the makers of Aunt Jemima pancake products that they would be retiring the branding and associated imagery due to a rising wave of criticism of the inherent racism of the brand, I thought things might be getting a bit blown out of proportion.
To my memory, iconic brand mascots like the Aunt Jemima lady house cook, Uncle Ben's old man server and the Cream of Wheat male cook were just images depicting people who cooked or served food who happened to be black.
Now I wasn't totally ignorant to their old tyme origins hearkening back to a time when black people were pretty much relegated to servitude professions, so I got that that was a bit offensive, especially today when we as a society want to enable everyone, no matter their race, creed or color, etc., to strive for whatever goals they aim to achieve. But the imagery goes deeper than just black people serving in low-wage, servitude jobs. The images serve as hurtful reminders of not only slavery but the Jim Crow era belief many white people had that blacks were inferior and needed to be both oppressed by and taught to be subservient to whites.
I found this excellent video showcasing the Jim Crow Museum of Racist Memorabilia and its eye-opening exhibits. After watching this, I'm sure you'll agree, the racist depiction of Aunt Jemima really should have been removed years ago.