Tons of things are in the news right now and yet it seems that everyone is focused on Aunt Jemima. What a weird world…
I saw at least ten people post something about Aunt Jemima today. Most of them were the story of Nancy Green and how it is not racist since she was basically a pancake rockstar (credit Robert Wuhl for that one). What people fail to read about in that story is how Quaker later used a white woman who was known for doing blackface to do the voice in radio ads. Or how the term Aunt Jemima comes from a 19th century minstrel show song and it is a caricature of what white people thought black women looked and sounded like.
The sad thing is that if people read anything about the story, they would notice that PepsiCo was trying to find a way to rebrand Aunt Jemima for awhile and now it looks like the perfect opportunity. And you know what? Good for them. They realized their mistake and publicly acknowledged it. I just hope they work on making a box of pancake batter that is easy to pour out. You ever try to dump that powder into a measuring cup from that stupid slot they created? It goes everywhere!
So no need for everyone to get bent out of shape over the name change. Trust me, there will still be delicious pancakes and syrup. Does it really matter what it is called? Or do you really need some good old fashioned racism in the morning in order to enjoy breakfast? If that is the case, then you know, maybe you are a racist.
I don’t know, man. I like my pancakes really sweet. Century-old racism is pretty sweet. Seems like a match to me!