Aunt Jemima, the character that has been featured on syrup bottles and other products by Quaker Oats, is being removed from all branding due to baseless allegations of being racist, as reported by Good Morning America.
The announcement was made by the mega-corporation PepsiCo, the parent company of Quaker Oats, on Wednesday. Vice president of Quaker Foods North America Kristin Kroepfl said, in part, “We must take a hard look at our portfolio of brands and ensure they reflect our values and meet our consumers’ expectations,” while also falsely claiming that “Aunt Jemima’s origins are based on a racial stereotype.”
The character of Aunt Jemima is based on a real woman, Nancy Green, who was born into slavery and eventually set free. She went on to become a successful cook in her own right before she was approached by the two men behind the syrup brand, Chris Rutt and Charles Underwood, to help with the marketing of the new brand. She first began portraying the character in 1893 and did so until her death in 1923, becoming a beloved figure across America.
The push to remove such an iconic character, which has been used for over 130 years, comes amidst demands for racial “justice” by far-left protesters across America in the wake of George Floyd’s death in Minneapolis.