Reparations for Aunt Jemima!

Still Processing

News Commentary, Society & Culture, News, Arts

4.8 • 9.2K Ratings

🗓️ 16 July 2020

⏱️ 34 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

When Quaker decided to take Aunt Jemima off the red pancake box after 131 years, did it also try to scrub the legacy she represents? And what sort of compensation is appropriate — and to whom — from a brand that maintained that image in public for so long? Discussed this week:“Aunt Jemima Brand to Change Name and Image Over ‘Racial Stereotype’” (Tiffany Hsu, The New York Times, June 2020)“Aunt Jemima: I’se in Town, Honey” (Jim Crow Museum of Racist Memorabilia at Ferris State University)“The Dixie Chicks Change Their Name, Dropping the ‘Dixie’” (Ben Sisario, The New York Times, June 2020)“Lady Antebellum Sues the Singer Lady A Over Name Change” (Joe Coscarelli, The New York Times, July 2020)“Aunt Jemima’s Heirs’ $3 Billion Lawsuit Against Pepsi, Quaker Oats Tossed by Judge” (Tim Kenneally, The Wrap, February 2015)“What Is Owed” (Nikole Hannah Jones, The New York Times, June 2020)“The Case for Reparations” (Ta-Nehisi Coates, The Atlantic, June 2014)

Transcript

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0:00.0	Jenna. Yes, baby. It has been some summer. George Floyd was killed in Minneapolis, Minnesota,
0:12.8	on Memorial Day. Right. We are now in July. And a lot of things have happened in the wake
0:21.5	of his death. They are mind blowing to think about, right? Did you see belt on?
0:29.3	I'm buckled up, baby. Let's go. Monuments, statues being toppled and brought down.
0:36.6	There's giant black lives matter murals going along the streets all over the country.
0:43.3	Kentay scarves being worn by our Congress people. Stop reminding me. We now work at a news
0:48.4	organization that is capitalizing the identity black. No more Lego police sets for you kids.
0:54.1	Cops has been canceled. Black face episodes of 30 rock and community taken down. The NFL
1:00.3	league full of black people realizes that black lives do matter, but never says the Colin
1:04.4	Kaepernick does. Aunt Jermima, Uncle Ben, retired. Lady Antibellum and Dixie chicks are now
1:11.1	Lady A and the chicks. Don't forget also the Washington football team. Finally,
1:18.5	finally, then I have new name. Finally. I mean, we could talk about each of those items
1:24.7	for the rest of our lives. I mean, probably will, but I just want to dial in on one. Sure. Which is
1:32.4	Aunt Jermima, right? Okay. I don't want to wallpaper over that past because I think that lets
1:38.4	the people responsible for that character and that caricature off way too easy. If we just
1:45.4	disappear Aunt Jermima, then we're effectively erasing her, which does not heal that wound.
1:52.3	It actually exacerbates it. It just covers it up with a bandaid. No bassit racing. You know?
1:57.3	Oh, yeah. Please. We should definitely talk about Aunt Jermima and the pancake mix.
2:03.0	Let's crack some eggs. We'll get out some water and we'll just we're going to get right into some
2:07.2	stirring. I'm Jenna Wortham. I'm Wesley Morris. We're two culture writers at the New York Times and
2:14.6	recording in our living rooms today during a pandemic, a movement, and apparently a rainstorm.
2:22.6	Y'all going to hear it. And this is still processing.
	...

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