The great-grandson of the original Aunt Jemima expressed his rage at how pop culture is erasing her heritage after the announcement of Quaker Foods’ rebranding.
The brand will be rebranded after Quaker Foods gave in to pressure and “canceled” Aunt Jemima, as we previously mentioned. The great-grandson of the real Aunt Jemima, Anna Short Harrington, is now speaking out to express his outrage and disappointment at the erasure of her legacy.
Speaking out is “Aunt Jemima” Anna Short Harrington’s great-grandson.
This is unfair to my family and I. Larnell Evans, Sr. patched up. To prove that the white people on the opposing side are the cause of the alleged racism, they use images from enslavement”.
This business makes money off of representations of our slavery. They have chosen to accomplish this by erasing my great-grandmother’s past—a woman of color. I’m injured. ”.
Nancy Green, a former slave, made her debut as Aunt Jemima at the Chicago World’s Fair in 1893. ”. Cook Green worked on the city’s South Side. She was paid for donning an apron and a headscarf to serve pancakes to fairgoers.
She was known as “Aunt Jemima” up until her death in 1923. ”. Evans claimed that after that, his grandmother, Anna Short Harrington, took over.
Quaker Foods is accepting applications for Anna Short Harrington’s image.
Fraternities at Syracuse University, where Harrington worked as a chef, praised her pancakes. A Quaker Foods employee came across her while she was distributing homemade pancakes at the 1935 New York State Fair.
While she was still employed by Quaker Foods, her picture appeared in advertisements and on merchandise. Harrington also became well-known across the country by dispensing pancakes while posing as “Aunt Jemima.”.
She spent twenty years working for Quaker Oats. Evans claims that while posing as Aunt Jemima, she served pancakes to visitors from all over the US and Canada.
“This woman served everyone in the post-slavery era. She is a person who performs the role of Aunt Jemima. She behaved in that manner. How do you think I feel as a black man telling you about the history that they are attempting to obliterate from my family’s past?
The pancake recipe created by Harrington, a former Marine, was also used by S. Quaker Foods. Her heirs tried to sue the business for $3 billion in 2014 because they weren’t given royalties.
Evans is a ruthless individual.
Evans argued that rather than completely removing the images of slavery and Green and Harrington from stores, Quaker Foods should admit that they made money off of them.
He asked, “How many white people were raised watching cartoons like Aunt Jemima at breakfast every day? How many white businesses generated enormous profits while giving us nothing? I believe they ought to look into it. As long as we continue to feel pain, they cannot remove it”.
Evans went on to ask, “After making all that money, they’re just going to erase history as if it never happened—and now that backers are demanding restitution for slavery?”. They won’t give us anything; what gives them this power?
Quaker Foods claims that by the end of the year, all products will be free of all Aunt Jemima branding and artwork.
