At Death's Door: Aunt Jemima, Uncle Ben, and Mrs. Butterworth

by Pa Rock

Citizen Journalist

Aunt Jemima, the iconic black "Mammy" figure who has been has been hovering over America's breakfast tables for a more than a hundred and thirty years, is about to serve up her last round of pancakes.  The well-known brand of pancake mix and syrup that has been a mainstay of many family kitchens is looking at an imminent name change - or in the corporate vernacular - a "rebranding."

"Aunt Jemima" which is owned by Quaker Foods, which, in turn, is owned by by PepsiCo, has been criticized for the past several decades as being an offensive promotion of a racial stereotype -  the black Mammy - who dutifully served white families, and her persona is deeply rooted in the pre-and-post-Civil War American South.   Her name originated as a song - "Old Aunt Jemima" - among the plantation field slaves of the Old South and later became a popular number in traveling minstrel shows.  The original "Aunt Jemima" associated with the pancake and syrup products was Nancy Green, a woman who was born into slavery.

 Over the years the image associated with the "Aunt Jemima" brand has been updated, but the name, and particularly the title of "Aunt" remained the same.  "Aunt" and "Uncle" were often applied to elder black individuals so that whites could avoid addressing them with the more formal titles of "Mr." or "Mrs."  It was seen as a familiar form of respectful rather than a formal form or respectful.

"Uncle Ben" is also about to breathe his last.  The Mars food conglomerate which owns the "Uncle Ben's" various boxed rice products, has indicated that in an effort to "take a stand in helping to put an end to racial bias and injustice," that it plans to "evolve" the "Uncle Ben's" brand - to include it's "visual brand identity" -  which would seem to indicate that they are planning on changing the name as well as the picture.  ("Uncle Ben originally appeared wearing a bow tie and resembling a servant in the 1940's, but in 2007 his image was updated to a more contemporary appearance.)

And rounding out today's list of upcoming celebrity obits is the other venerable syrup queen, "Mrs. Butterworth."  Conagra sounded her death knell this week with a news release stating that the company had "begun a complete brand and packaging review" of "Mrs. Butterworth's" syrups. Stammering on, the international food conglomerate said, "We stand in solidarity with our Black and Brown communities and we can see that our packaging may be interpreted in a way that is wholly inconsistent with our values."

While "Mrs. Butterworth" is a more recent brand than "Aunt Jemima" and "Uncle Ben," and she is more appropriately recognized by the title of "Mrs.", she was still represented as a racial stereotype in her packaging - a bottle in the shape of the clearly recognizable black "Mammy."

The sudden rush to rename and re-image these three brands that have been staples in American pantries for decades comes in the aftermath of the national and international protests that occurred after the killing of George Floyd, an unarmed - and handcuffed - black man, by police in Minneapolis - and as dozens of companies and brands have rushed to express their solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement.  If there ever was a time when change could and should occur, many believe this would be it.

Mr. Floyd's murder has made us all look inward, at our beliefs and values, and ultimately at the iconic images that helped to shape those beliefs and values.  Some things are going to change, and some old familiar friends are going to fade into the pages of history.

The moral arc of the universe is still bending.