Quaker Oats Scraps Aunt Jemima!

Aunt Jemima pancakes is a popular brand. But it's racially offensive stereotype of African American women have long been a controversy. Now Quaker Oats is retiring the brand and working on diversifying the company.

A famous brand of pancake mix, syrup and breakfast meals is no longer going to be named after a racial stereotype.

Quaker Oats, a subsidiary of PespiCo has decided to scrap Aunt Jemima.

The trademark dates back to 1893, although the Aunt Jemima brand debuted in 1889. The Quaker Oats Company first registered the Aunt Jemima pancake trademark in April 1937. The character appears to have been a Reconstruction era addition to that cast.

The George Floyd tragedy and subsequent protests have forced Quaker to replace the brand with a new name and image in order "to make progress towards racial equality."

That's not good.

Billy Kersands, a Black entertainer and dancer created the Aunt Jemima image. He was a traveling minstrel who used contortion techniques with his mouth. He would dress up as a mamy like character which gave inspiration towards the Aunt Jemima brand.

Nancy Green, an African American model, storyteller, activist and cook became the first spokesperson for the pancake mix in 1890.

Aunt Jemima's appearance has evolved over time. The brand's origin and logo is based off the song "Old Aunt Jemima" from a minstrel show performer and reportedly sung by slaves. The company's website said the logo started in 1890 and was based on Green, a "storyteller, cook and missionary worker." However, the website fails to mention Green was born into slavery.

The company also ran racist ads for several decades, with actresses personifying the mammy stereotype. It evolved the logo over the years, and even hired singer Gladys Knight as a spokeswoman in the 1990s. Today, Aunt Jemima describes itself as brand that stands for "warmth, nourishment and trust — qualities you'll find in loving moms from diverse backgrounds who want the very best for their families."

In 2017, the husband of the late B. Smith called on the company to change it and said it was the epitome of "female humiliation."

"While work has been done over the years to update the brand in a manner intended to be appropriate and respectful, we realize those changes are not enough," Quaker Oats North America chief marketing officer Kristin Kroepfl said in the statement.

Pepsi (PEP) hasn't yet revealed a new logo or brand name for the breakfast items. That will debut in the fall. The Aunt Jemima brand was purchased by Quaker Oats in 1926. PepsiCo bought Quaker Oats in 2001.

Aunt Jemima brand will donate $5 million over the next five years "create meaningful, ongoing support and engagement in the Black community."

In the next posting, Alexis Ohanian, the investment billionaire and husband of Serena Williams quit Reddit last week. He shared this meme.

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I've been hyping up @singkirbysing from time to time here on IG for her music, but in like 48 hrs this video she made just got Aunt Jemima removed (at last!) Vote with your dollars. Use capitalism to make change. Do not stop.

A post shared by Alexis Ohanian Sr. (@alexisohanian) on Jun 17, 2020 at 5:51am PDT

Earlier this week, Pepsi announced a $400 million set of initiatives to support the black community.