# No more Aunt Jemima **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 17, 2020, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-more-aunt-jemima/855850 "2020-06-17T14:57:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2020, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-more-aunt-jemima/855850/81 "2020-06-18T14:38:17Z")
> [@MrAtoz](#): > > One of my acquaintances on Facebook has been getting faux-offended by Chef Boyardee, saying stuff like “As an Italian-American, I demand the removal of this offensive stereotyped character. Haven’t we Italians suffered from discrimination and hatred? Don’t we deserve to have a bunch of SJWs offended on our behalf as well?” Of course, the Irish are stereotyped as [pugnacious ginger dwarfs](https://i.pinimg.com/originals/b7/4d/e0/b74de06296fbf9c2714ca2f4e063f7db.jpg) (but they are generally fine with that).😃 ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2020, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-more-aunt-jemima/855850/82 "2020-06-18T14:40:52Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > The Jolly Green Giant is probably safe, although Vegetable-Americans might object. You shouldn’t say Vegetable-Americans anymore; the preferred term is Phyto-Americans. ---
**Author:** ![Chingon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chingon/32/17645_2.png) [@Chingon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chingon)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2020, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-more-aunt-jemima/855850/83 "2020-06-18T14:44:26Z")
Hur Hur Hur, black people sure are silly to get upset about stuff… ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2020, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-more-aunt-jemima/855850/84 "2020-06-18T14:49:45Z")
> [@Machine\_Elf](#): > > You shouldn’t say Vegetable-Americans anymore; **the preferred term is Phyto-Americans**. Big Chlorophyll is behind it. ---
**Author:** ![racer72](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/racer72/32/3075_2.png) [@racer72](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/racer72)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2020, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-more-aunt-jemima/855850/85 "2020-06-18T15:15:29Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > The Jolly Green Giant is probably safe, although Vegetable-Americans might object. The [Jolly Green Giant](https://www.pinterest.com/pin/470907704756639606/) is on the side of a hill near Dayton, Washington. The Keebler Elves now want an image on the side of the hill too. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2020, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-more-aunt-jemima/855850/86 "2020-06-18T15:29:25Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > “Uncle” was the term that white people used to refer to older black male slaves who worked in the house and not in the fields. Except that Uncle Ben didn’t come from there. As the story goes, it’s more of a matter of unauthorized use of someone’s name in marketing material. Uncle Ben’s was the first producer of converted/parboiled rice. They decided to name the product after a local Houston area African American rice farmer with a reputation for a quality product, and used the likeness of the maitre d of the hotel restaurant that the execs met at to discuss it. There’s no real reason to dispute the genesis of Uncle Ben- there was a LOT of rice farming in the greater Houston area in the 1940s when this happened (where I grew up was rice fields at that time, FWIW). The real issue is that he’s a made up character in a lot of ways- I’m sure there was an actual Uncle Ben, but he wasn’t used in any way other than the name. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2020, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-more-aunt-jemima/855850/87 "2020-06-18T16:27:28Z")
> [@bump](#): > > Except that Uncle Ben didn’t come from there. > > As the story goes, it’s more of a matter of unauthorized use of someone’s name in marketing material. > > Uncle Ben’s was the first producer of converted/parboiled rice. They decided to name the product after a local Houston area African American rice farmer with a reputation for a quality product, and used the likeness of the maitre d of the hotel restaurant that the execs met at to discuss it. > > There’s no real reason to dispute the genesis of Uncle Ben- there was a LOT of rice farming in the greater Houston area in the 1940s when this happened (where I grew up was rice fields at that time, FWIW). > > The real issue is that he’s a made up character in a lot of ways- I’m sure there was an actual Uncle Ben, but he wasn’t used in any way other than the name. It doesn’t matter at all if there was a real Ben or not. The entire point is that the use of “Uncle” in this context comes from the way older black slaves were named. They understood that and their audience of Southern consumers understood that. ---
**Author:** ![Jeff\_Lichtman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jeff_lichtman/32/1531_2.png) [@Jeff\_Lichtman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jeff_Lichtman)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2020, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-more-aunt-jemima/855850/88 "2020-06-18T16:30:44Z")
I skimmed through the [Wikipedia list of advertising characters](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_American_advertising_characters). The one black character I found who’s completely inoffensive was The Man Your Man Could Smell Like, used in Old Spice commercials (the guy who ended his first commercial with the line, “I’m on a horse.”) Another recent commercial features the guy’s son. The Pine Sol Lady is also in the list. I remember when her ads first came out that people wondered why a black woman was used to pitch a household cleaning product. It brought up the old stereotype of the domestic servant. She wasn’t portrayed in the ads as a servant, but we live in a society that’s so tainted by racism that when a black woman is depicted as an expert on cleaning you have to wonder why, especially when black people are so rarely used as advertising symbols. One thing I haven’t seen mentioned in this thread is the offensiveness of the name Aunt Jemima itself. It’s an epithet. My understanding (please correct me if I’m wrong) is that the term “Aunt Jemima” is used in the black community as a sort of female equivalent of “Uncle Tom.” Changing the way she looks won’t get rid of this. They have to ditch the name. ---
**Author:** ![Jeff\_Lichtman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jeff_lichtman/32/1531_2.png) [@Jeff\_Lichtman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jeff_Lichtman)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2020, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-more-aunt-jemima/855850/89 "2020-06-18T16:40:31Z")
Oops - sorry. Duplicate post. ---
**Author:** ![BeagleJesus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/5daacb/32.png) [@BeagleJesus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BeagleJesus)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2020, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-more-aunt-jemima/855850/90 "2020-06-18T16:45:30Z")
I am endlessly amused at how eager white people are to make jokes about stuff like this. Black People: Thank god, they have finally decided to retire another racist caricature. At least this time it only took 100 years. One more small step on what’s been a long journey… White People: This seems like a great time to make jokes about fictional characters demanding equal rights! I mean damn, if you think black folks are overreacting (again) about this stuff why not just state that explicitly instead of all the backhanded jokes that allude to that fact? Either way you do it, the message you send is still the same. Or is the goal to try and fly under the radar with these opinions? ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2020, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-more-aunt-jemima/855850/91 "2020-06-18T16:55:06Z")
Does anybody else remember Aunt Jemima restaurants? They were similar to IHOP. The last time I was there was in the early 1960’s. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2020, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-more-aunt-jemima/855850/92 "2020-06-18T17:11:43Z")
> [@Jeff\_Lichtman](#): > > One thing I haven’t seen mentioned in this thread is the offensiveness of the name Aunt Jemima itself. It’s an epithet. My understanding (please correct me if I’m wrong) is that the term “Aunt Jemima” is used in the black community as a sort of female equivalent of “Uncle Tom.” Changing the way she looks won’t get rid of this. They have to ditch the name. PepsiCo has stated that they’ll be changing to a new brand name, as well, but that that will take longer. ---
**Author:** ![Rick\_Kitchen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rick_kitchen/32/522_2.png) [@Rick\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Kitchen)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2020, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-more-aunt-jemima/855850/93 "2020-06-18T18:18:24Z")
I see a lot of black people on Antiques Roadshow who collect black caricature items. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2020, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-more-aunt-jemima/855850/94 "2020-06-18T19:02:38Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > The Jolly Green Giant is probably safe, although Vegetable-Americans might object. His appearance is staying the same, but his catchphrase is being modernized to the more respectful “Sex worker sex worker sex worker.” ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2020, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-more-aunt-jemima/855850/95 "2020-06-18T19:04:18Z")
> [@Bijou\_Drains](#): > > [https://www.cnn.com/2020/06/17/business/aunt-jemima-logo-change/index.html](https://www.cnn.com/2020/06/17/business/aunt-jemima-logo-change/index.html) > > I hope they keep Uncle Ben’s perverted rice 🙂 Why? Because it IS perverted. Rice is SUPPOSED to stick together. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2020, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-more-aunt-jemima/855850/96 "2020-06-18T19:09:15Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > The mascots based on real individuals are probably OK, regardless of race. Off the top of my head, [Famous Amos](https://www.google.com/search?q=famous+amos+cookies&sxsrf=ALeKk00hVyORdHxwhOGHSZUOTuPXxEhE3w:1592417372752&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwi21Nj-uInqAhWmRDABHRBXC20Q_AUoAXoECBcQAw&biw=1053&bih=657)? The problematic thing about him is that his cookies suck. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2020, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-more-aunt-jemima/855850/97 "2020-06-18T19:14:49Z")
> [@Ike\_Witt](#): > > It will be interesting to see how Quaker will sell maple flavoured HFCS in the future. Probably a cartoon lumberjack. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2020, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-more-aunt-jemima/855850/98 "2020-06-18T19:28:08Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > Probably a cartoon lumberjack. And that’s okay. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2020, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-more-aunt-jemima/855850/99 "2020-06-18T19:31:51Z")
> [@racer72](#): > > The [Jolly Green Giant](https://www.pinterest.com/pin/470907704756639606/) is on the side of a hill near Dayton, Washington. The Keebler Elves now want an image on the side of the hill too. You mean the Keebler Little People. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2020, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-more-aunt-jemima/855850/100 "2020-06-18T19:36:54Z")
> [@bordelond](#): > > I understand that the 7-up commercials in question are not comparable to the Aunt Jemima branding, most especially in historical context. > > What I’m more wondering is whether or not Holder IS playing a stereotype or a caricature, after all, even if not one ingrained in America’s sociocultural history. More like a W. Somerset Maugham-esque literary caricature. His character originally showed up to demonstrate the contrast between cola nuts (kola nuts) and Uncola nuts (a lemon and a lime). His _mise en scene_ suggested a planter of exotic products in a tropical clime. I hadn’t read any Maugham when I first encountered him, so I didn’t find anything out of the ordinary about him being black. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-more-aunt-jemima/855850.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-more-aunt-jemima/855850.md?page=6)