Your CNN account Log in to your CNN account It’s the one that has so penetrated your consciousness until it’s almost as if you don’t see it.” It isn’t the overt, in-your-face, clearly offensive image. “That’s really how white supremacy works,” Carr said. Greg Carr, professor of Africana studies at Howard University, said racist brands have persisted for so long because Americans have grown numb to their origins, and the subtle and common dehumanization of black people is what makes it possible for Americans to accept police brutality and other forms of systemic racism. “Our family has looked into our hearts and realize that we must be sensitive when others whom we respect make a strong appeal,” Sambo’s said in a June 4 Instagram post The term later became a pejorative for African Americans. Last week, the nation’s last Sambo’s restaurant in Santa Barbara, California, announced it was changing its name, which is also a racial slur that stems from an 1899 book about a dark-skinned south Indian boy. Some of those themes still remain at other restaurants in 2020. Extinct eateries like Salt Lake City’s Coon Chicken Inn and Richard’s Restaurant and Slave Market outside Chicago once used racist themes to the delight of white customers. Kwate’s book “Burgers in Blackface: Anti-Black Restaurants Then and Now” illustrates just how common it once was to use racist black stereotypes to sell food and other products in America.Ī century ago, a pair of animated black children named Goldie and Dusty, aka the Gold Dust Twins, once helped make Fairbank’s Gold Dust Washing Powder a household name. “We understand there are concerns regarding the Chef image, and we are committed to evaluating our packaging and will proactively take steps to ensure that we and our brands do not inadvertently contribute to systemic racism,” B&G Foods told CNN Business in an emailed statement.Ī Gold Dust Washing Powder trade card features the companies Gold Dust Twins mascots. Today, the name Rastus is regarded as a racial slur. Rastus was depicted as a dim-witted former slave who spoke broken English in early Cream of Wheat ads. Scholars say White’s image replaced Cream of Wheat’s original black mascot, Rastus, a racist caricature of black Americans that commonly appeared in blackface minstrel shows from the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The pressure mounted for other brands Wednesday night when Cream of Wheat’s parent company, B&G Foods, issued a statement saying it too has initiated a review of its packaging, which features the image of a black cook widely believed to be based on Chicago chef Frank L. Cream of Wheat just became the latest major food brand to announce a review of its controversial mascot following the global uproar over the George Floyd tragedy, which has compelled corporations to reflect on their roles in perpetuating racism.Īunt Jemima was the first food brand Wednesday to announce it is changing its logo, which for decades has been widely criticized as a racist caricature of a black maid stemming from slavery.
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