Removing Racial Stereotypes from Products

[sirI, MSN, APRN, NP]

Quote

The Aunt Jemima brand of syrup and pancake mix will get a new name and image, Quaker Oats announced Wednesday, saying the company recognizes that "Aunt Jemima's origins are based on a racial stereotype."

The 130-year-old brand features a Black woman named Aunt Jemima, who was originally dressed as a minstrel character.

Aunt Jemima has faced renewed criticism recently amid protests across the nation and around the world sparked by the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis police custody.

People on social media called out the brand for ...

Read in its entirety: Aunt Jemima brand to change name, remove image that Quaker says is 'based on a racial sterotype'

Other companies will follow suit: Uncle Ben's rice to change brand as part of parent company's stance against racism.

[Emergent, RN]

I don't buy those lousy foods anyways. I don't think the image of a comforting, nurturing black woman who cooks is at all negative, though.

These big announcements of this type are stupid publicity ploys, designed to dupe a gullible public.

[toomuchbaloney]

15 hours ago, Emergent said:

I don't buy those lousy foods anyways. I don't think the image of a comforting, nurturing black woman who cooks is at all negative, though.

These big announcements of this type are stupid publicity ploys, designed to dupe a gullible public.

None of my ancestors were kitchen or house slaves either. I make my own birch syrup.

[nursej22, MSN, RN]

If people say an image is hateful or hurtful, I believe them.

[herring_RN, ASN, BSN]

Just because I was ignorant about how those images got on the labels, so never bothered me does not give me the right to deny other people's feelings.

When our Mom's mother was a little girl in rural Texas the kids would walk to school in town. There was an old woman living on a corner lot who chased kids and hit them with her broom. The whole town made fun of her and called her "Granny". The children thought she was a witch.

There were two words, in addition to taking the Lord's name in vain, that had our wonderful grandmother instantly agitated and angry. One was the "N" word for which we got soap in our mouth. The other was "Granny".

Once when my sister was learning to walk both grandmothers were there. Our grandfather aimed her at his wife and said, "Go to Granny". He wasn't talking about our suddenly UPSET grandmother, but she seemed to be sitting and walking at the same time. She grit her teeth as she talked saying, "DON'T YOU CALL ME GRANNY!" We were all frightened. That was when she told us about the "witch with a broom who hurt children".

We were taught that when people called our Negro family members "N" to understand that they were ignorant and to pray for them, after getting safely away. We were taught by adult actions to feel sorry for racists.

[NurseBlaq]

I don't think all this rebranding is genuine. It was known to be racist when it was initially done, that was the point. This whoa is me, I didn't mean to be offensive nonsense these companies are using is what's offensive. Don't pretend to not know it was wrong when it's always been wrong.

Having said that, I'm tired of the pandering and fake concern. The rebranding and statue removal does nothing to stop redlining, an unjust system, income and healthcare disparity, etc. If they want to ACTUALLY do something, start with making life necessities equal across the board and giving us a fair chance, especially since slavery, Jim Crow, etc have set Black/Brown/Native people back generations.

[toomuchbaloney]

Removing racist statuary is a start. A necessary start.

[NurseBlaq]

8 minutes ago, toomuchbaloney said:

Removing racist statuary is a start. A necessary start.

Maybe so but when will they do something that ACTUALLY attempts to fix the problems that plague nonwhite citizens? Renaming products doesn't do anything for us, they're still getting paid and many even own the off label brands so it's nothing to them anyway. It's all a dog and pony show IMO.

[toomuchbaloney]

13 minutes ago, NurseBlaq said:

Maybe so but when will they do something that ACTUALLY attempts to fix the problems that plague nonwhite citizens? Renaming products doesn't do anything for us, they're still getting paid and many even own the off label brands so it's nothing to them anyway. It's all a dog and pony show IMO.

Maybe not in my lifetime. At least we could stop publicly admiring racists and traitors with larger than life monuments in our common areas as evidence that we don't approve of those ideologies. I think that is a requirement if we're ever going to move forward.

[NurseBlaq]

1 hour ago, toomuchbaloney said:

Maybe not in my lifetime. At least we could stop publicly admiring racists and traitors with larger than life monuments in our common areas as evidence that we don't approve of those ideologies. I think that is a requirement if we're ever going to move forward.

Maybe not ever. There's always pushback when it's time to do the right thing.

[scribblz, BSN, CNA, LPN]

8 hours ago, NurseBlaq said:

Maybe so but when will they do something that ACTUALLY attempts to fix the problems that plague nonwhite citizens? Renaming products doesn't do anything for us, they're still getting paid and many even own the off label brands so it's nothing to them anyway. It's all a dog and pony show IMO.

Completely agree. Until there's representation at the tables where decisions are made there will be no meaningful change. Tokenism and compromise get you fish handed out to you. Representation has you catching your own fish.

[llg, PhD, RN]

On 6/22/2020 at 10:11 AM, nursej22 said:

If people say an image is hateful or hurtful, I believe them.

So if I said your avatar picture is hateful or hurtful you would believe me and remove it?

I don't know how I feel about some of these questions. I don't think their is one sweeping generalization that covers every situation. I look at each case individually -- considering the motives of the people who created the art (statue, picture, brand name, etc.) and the meaning behind the image that was chosen.