In Addition to Its Status as a Beloved Brand Across Generations, Quaker Oats Chooses to Cease ‘Aunt Jemima’ Production Amid the Black Lives Matter Movement.
As Predicted, This Decision Hasn’t Been Welcomed by Customers and Longtime Consumers Who Have Started Their Days with This Pancake Flour Mix for Years.
Larnell Evans Sr., a Marine Corps Veteran, Asserting He Is the Great-Grandson of Anna Short Harrington, Accuses the Corporation of Attempting to Erase a History Rooted in Slavery, a History the Company Profited From for Many Years.
“The Racism They Discuss, Utilizing Imagery from the Era of Slavery, Originates from the Other Side — the White Community. This Company Has Benefited from the Exploitation of Such Imagery, and Their Response Is to Eliminate the History of My Great-Grandmother, a Black Woman… It’s Painful.”
Harrington Became the Iconic Face of ‘Aunt Jemima’ After the Sudden Passing of Nancy Green, Who Was Initially Employed to Serve Pancakes at the Chicago World’s Fair in 1893, Marking the Brand’s Inaugural Use of the ‘Aunt Jemima’ Name.
Green’s history is rooted in slavery, a fact that the company chose not to disclose. Instead, Quaker Oats portrayed her as a “storyteller, cook, and missionary worker.”
Harrington assumed the role in 1935 when a Quaker Oats representative observed her making pancakes at the New York State Fair and decided to transform her into “Aunt Jemima.”
Evans remarked, “She devoted 20 years of her life to Quaker Oats. She traveled extensively throughout the United States and Canada, embodying the Aunt Jemima character while making pancakes for them.
“This woman served countless individuals, and it was in a post-slavery era. Her role was to be Aunt Jemima. That was her occupation… How do you think I feel as a black man, sitting here, sharing my family’s history that they are attempting to erase?”
