Following the announcement of Quaker Foods’ rebranding, the great-grandson of the original Aunt Jemima vented his fury at how pop culture is erasing her heritage.
After Quaker Foods bowed to pressure to “cancel” Aunt Jemima, as we previously stated, the brand will be rebranded. Anna Short Harrington, the real Aunt Jemima’s great-grandson, is now coming forward to voice his outrage and disappointment over the erasure of her legacy.
Great-grandson of “Aunt Jemima” Anna Short Harrington speaks out.
To my family and I, this is unfair. Larnell Evans Sr. told Patch. They use images from enslavement to demonstrate that the white people on the opposing side are the source of the alleged racism. ”.
This company profits from depictions of our slavery. By wiping away my great-grandmother’s past, they have chosen to achieve this—A woman of color. I’m hurt. ”.
At the Chicago World’s Fair in 1893, former slave Nancy Green debuted the first “Aunt Jemima.”. On the South Side of the city, Cook Green had a job. She received payment for putting on an apron and a headscarf to serve pancakes to fairgoers.
Until she died in 1923, she was portrayed as “Aunt Jemima.”. Evans asserted that his grandmother, Anna Short Harrington, took charge after that.
Applications for Anna Short Harrington’s likeness from Quaker Foods.
Harrington’s pancakes were praised by the fraternities at Syracuse University, where she worked as a chef. She was handing out homemade pancakes at the 1935 New York State Fair when a Quaker Foods employee came across her.
Her image was used in advertisements and on products while she was still working for Quaker Foods. Harrington also traveled the nation dishing out pancakes while posing as “Aunt Jemima,” making her a household name.
She worked for Quaker Oats for 20 years. According to Evans, she served pancakes as Aunt Jemima to people from all over the United States and Canada.
“It was the era following slavery, and this woman served everyone. She is a person who works as Aunt Jemima. She acted in that way. How do you think I feel sitting here as a black man telling you about my family’s history that they are trying to erase?
According to Evans, a 66-year-old U.S. S. Quaker Foods also used Harrington’s pancake recipe; he was a former Marine. Her heirs made an unsuccessful attempt to sue the company for $3 billion for failing to pay them royalties in 2014.
Evans takes no prisoners.
Evans argued that Quaker Foods should acknowledge that they made money off the likenesses of Green and Harrington and images of slavery rather than completely removing them from stores.
He questioned, “How many white people were raised watching cartoons like Aunt Jemima at breakfast daily? How many white businesses generated enormous profits while giving us nothing? I believe they ought to examine it. They can’t eliminate it while we are still in pain. ”.
Evans continued, “They’re just going to erase history as if it never happened after making all that money—and now that backers are demanding restitution for slavery?”. What gives them this power? They won’t provide us with anything, right?
By the end of the year, all products will, according to Quaker Foods, be free of any Aunt Jemima branding or artwork.
