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racial stereotypes

Quaker Oats has announced it will rename its brand Aunt Jemima (a line of syrups and foods), acknowledging it was based on a racial stereotype.

For over 130 years, Aunt Jemima’s logo has featured a black woman named after a character from minstrel shows in the 1800s that mocked African-Americans.

The company said past branding updates to address these issues were “not enough”.

Criticism against the brand has renewed amid the national debate over racism sparked by George Floyd’s death.

Image source: AuntJemima.com

Kristin Kroepfl, Quaker Foods North America’s chief marketing officer, said the company is working “to make progress toward racial equality through several initiatives”.

She said: “We also must take a hard look at our portfolio of brands and ensure they reflect our values and meet our consumers’ expectations.

“We are starting by removing the image and changing the name.”

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Quaker has not offered further details on the coming changes, which were first reported by NBC News.

In addition, Aunt Jemima is to donate at least $5 million over the next five years to support the African American community, according to parent company PepsiCo.

The branding on Aunt Jemima’s syrups, mixes and other food products features an image of a black woman that has often been linked to stereotypes around slavery.

In a 2015 opinion piece for the New York Times, Cornell University African-American literature professor Riché Richardson described Aunt Jemima as “an outgrowth of Old South plantation nostalgia and romance”.

He said the brand perpetuated the idea of a “mammy” character – a submissive black woman who nurtured her white master’s children.

Founded in 1889, the Aunt Jemima logo was based on storyteller, cook and missionary Nancy Green, Quaker’s site says.

According to the African American Registry non-profit database, Nancy Green was born into slavery in Kentucky in 1834.

Aunt Jemima joins a number of companies offering change in light of the global protests and renewed debate over racism in America, sparked by the recent police killings of George Floyd and other African Americans.

PepsiCo has decided to withdraw Mountain Dew goat commercial over criticism that it depicts racial stereotypes and makes light of violence against women.

The online Mountain Dew ad shows a battered white woman on crutches being asked to identify a suspect out of a police line-up of black men and a goat.

One blogger described the 60-second video as “arguably the most racist commercial in history”.

PepsiCo has since apologized for the ad for its Mountain Dew soft drink.

PepsiCo has decided to withdraw Mountain Dew goat racist commercial developed by Tyler the Creator

PepsiCo has decided to withdraw Mountain Dew goat racist commercial developed by Tyler the Creator

In the video, the goat threatens to beat the woman up if she identifies him to the police.

The woman eventually screams in horror and runs away.

The dialogue in the clip is a wordplay around “Dew It” – the slogan promoting Mountain Dew.

In a statement on Wednesday, PepsiCo said that it took “full responsibility” for any offence caused by commercial.

It said it had removed the ad from its online channels.

The material was developed by African-American rapper Tyler the Creator.

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Halloween, the annual holiday observed on October 31, is a time for activities as trick-or-treating, carving jack-o’-lanterns and attending costume parties.

A group of college students from Ohio University are taking a stand against some costumes which, they say, can cause hurt and humiliation to people from minority ethnic groups.

The group from Ohio University, Students Teaching Against Racism in Society has created a poster campaign to highlight the racial stereotyping all too common in Halloween party costumes.

Students Teaching Against Racism in Society has created a poster campaign to highlight the racial stereotyping all too common in Halloween party costumes

Students Teaching Against Racism in Society has created a poster campaign to highlight the racial stereotyping all too common in Halloween party costumes

“We’re a culture, not a costume” campaign shows images of people of different ethnic groups holding up images partygoers whose costumes they say lampoon their cultures.

All posters read above each image: “This is not who I am, and this is not okay.”

The campaign has provoked an online row over whether the costumes are actually racist, or whether they are just in good fun.

One blogger who wrote about the posters two days ago had to disable comments on her website after she got 3,000 views and comments from “rude, racist people”.

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind blog wrote of the campaign:

“These posters act as a public service announcement for colored [sic] communities.

“It’s about respect, human dignity, and the acceptance of other cultures (these posters simply ask people to think before they choose their Halloween costume).

“What these costumes have in common is that they make caricatures out of cultures, and that is simply not okay.”

One poster shows a Native American man holding a picture of two women with paint on their faces and feathers in their hair holding a sign reading: “Me wantum piece [sic]… not war.”

Other poster shows an Asian American woman holding up a picture of a woman dressed as a Japanese geisha girl, with silk kimono and heavy white foundation.

Another poster shows a young Arab-American man holding up an image of a Halloween reveller wearing Arabic dress and a suicide bombers vest.

Comments on the Huffington Post website, where the story has also been reported, were split over whether the costumes could be judged offensive.

Many people could see nothing wrong with dressing according to racial stereotypes.

One person wrote on the site: “People need to get a sense of humour, and quit taking everything so seriously.

“If I can’t dress like a bandito then nobody can dress like a ghost because I don’t have a tan and I find it offensive.”