ROCKINGHAM — A familiar breakfast brand with a Richmond County connection is being replaced.
Quaker Oats announced Wednesday that it would be removing the Aunt Jemima image and name from products and rebranding later this year.
“As we work to make progress toward racial equality through several initiatives, we also must take a hard look at our portfolio of brands and ensure they reflect our values and meet our consumers’ expectations,” said Kristin Kroepfl, vice president and chief marketing officer, Quaker Foods North America. “We recognize Aunt Jemima’s origins are based on a racial stereotype. 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.”
The brand, which includes pancake mixes and syrup, has been around for 130 years, according to the company, “and has evolved over time with the goal of representing loving moms from diverse backgrounds who want the best for their families.”
“We acknowledge the brand has not progressed enough to appropriately reflect the confidence, warmth and dignity that we would like it to stand for today,” said Kroepfl. “We are starting by removing the image and changing the name. We will continue the conversation by gathering diverse perspectives from both our organization and the Black community to further evolve the brand and make it one everyone can be proud to have in their pantry.”
Parent company PepsiCo says it will donate a minimum of $5 million over the next five years “to create meaningful, ongoing support and engagement in the Black community.”
According to the “Our History” section of the Aunt Jemima website, the now-infamous pancake mix, the world’s first, was created in 1889 and sold a year later where the character was brought to life by storyteller and cook Nancy Green.
Anna Short Harrington, who portrayed Aunt Jemima for a time, was born near Cheraw, South Carolina, and raised in Richmond County, where her family lived for 14 years raising wheat and making flour, according to the online South Carolina Encyclopedia.
In the early 1930s, after her husband left, Harrington moved to New York where she worked as a cook for a white family. Soon after, she took a job cooking at Syracuse University where she was noticed by Quaker Oats Company — which bought the company in 1926 —and she became Aunt Jemima, appearing at the World’s Fair in Chicago.
The brand’s website has her listed as Anna Robinson.
According to both the brand and the encyclopedia entry, Harrington was able to purchase two homes, including a 22-room house she rented out to boarders.
In the 1950s and ‘60s, Aunt Jemima was portrayed by Aylene Lewis at the brand-themed restaurant at Disneyland, according to the company.
It wasn’t until 1989 when the Aunt Jemima look “evolved” from the bandana-clad character, adding pearl earrings and a lace collar.
Mars also announced on Wednesday that it would be making changes to the Uncle Ben brand.
“As a global brand, we know we have a responsibility to take a stand in helping to put an end to racial bias and injustices,”Mars spokesperson Caroline Sherman said in a statement. “As we listen to the voices of consumers, especially in the Black community, and to the voices of our Associates worldwide, we recognize that now is the right time to evolve the Uncle Ben’s brand, including its visual brand identity, which we will do.”
Sherman said she didn’t know when the changes would actually take place.
“Racism has no place in society,” Sherman continued. “We stand in solidarity with the Black community, our Associates and our partners in the fight for social justice. We know to make the systemic change needed, it’s going to take a collective effort from all of us — individuals, communities and organizations of all sizes around the world.
