Your thoughts on Aunt Jemima

Betty Crocker's face has been replaced by a spoon.

To answer the question I previously asked in this thread: B&G Foods indeed has removed the image of a black chef from its Cream of Wheat packaging.

-Paul W.

It wasn't the pictures so much as the references for me -- from as early as I can remember, Aunt Jemima and Uncle Ben was right up there with Uncle Tom and "boy". We know what those references are all about. I have some of those pictures framed in my home. Especially a couple of the more offensive cream of wheat ads from the early 20th century that are prominently displayed in my dining room. I have a kitchen goddess which is a 19th century bank made of iron that I found in a junk store about 40 years ago. I love her! And I have a few pictures of the mascot of the Fisher Flour Mill that I found in a barrel about that same time. Fisher Mills has become Fisher Broadcasting Company --> Fisher Media Group --> Fisher Communications --> now a part of the Sinclair Broadcasting Group. I love those pictures (I also have another framed flour bag with the same image) and display them with some sense of pride. The Fisher one has a history that tells the story of humble beginnings of one of the wealthiest Seattle families, that cannot be unlinked from a racialized past. I have a great appreciation for these images of black cooks as they tell the story of a people that have fed a nation from our earliest beginnings.
We need to stop trying to pretend that our lives and histories are not intricately and inextricably tied to one another as a country of peoples with a sometimes unsavory past.

Kitchen goddess.jpg

Kitchen god.jpg

Although I understand the implications as an adult, I loved Aunt Jemima as a young kid.

[Jenise]

I love those, Jo Ann. And you're so right, we need to quit pretending.

Btw, I see Jubilee on your counter. Isn't that a wonderful book? More than any other source, that book filled me with shame to realize the extent to which my west coast white self did not truly grasp the truth of how black cooks fed this nation, to borrow your words.

It wasn't the pictures so much as the references for me -- from as early as I can remember, Aunt Jemima and Uncle Ben was right up there with Uncle Tom and "boy". We know what those references are all about. I have some of those pictures framed in my home. Especially a couple of the more offensive cream of wheat ads from the early 20th century that are prominently displayed in my dining room.

I appreciate your reclaiming their power. (I don't struggle too hard to use 'queer' etc. in my speech but I get the idea.)

I have a kitchen goddess which is a 19th century bank made of iron that I found in a junk store about 40 years ago. I love her!

I like her! Does she collect coins anymore? (Seems like the place to run a slush fund for chef's treats....)

I have a great appreciation for these images of black cooks as they tell the story of a people that have fed a nation from our earliest beginnings.

Yes! In fact, almost everywhere you look in America you see the handiwork of black chefs. And not just in the past: When I lived in my previous apartment, one of the doormen had retired from being chef at the Chase Manhattan executive dining room.

And black horticulturists. I recently found out about an upcoming book, "Antoine of Oak Alley", that brings to light the history of Antoine, a slave who is single-handedly responsible for the pecan as we know it today. The entire industry traces its trees back to his.

We need to stop trying to pretend that our lives and histories are not intricately and inextricably tied to one another as a country of peoples with a sometimes unsavory past.

Agreed.

Yes, the latest box of Uncle Bens is the rebranded one, Bens Original.

I understood that the picture and name was supposed to refer to a rice grower, but the Uncle Bens we got here in UK is grown in Italy and there's a photo on the back of the packet of a (white) Italian rice grower.

But now, not only is there not a picture of Ben, there's no photo of the rice grower, and the packet says 'Made in the EU from EU or non-EU grown rice' which covers the world.....

Being in the UK the name Uncle Ben doesn't have the connotations that it maybe has in the USA. Most people have uncles and that's all it meant to me.

Ben's Original rice in 10-pound bags has been one of the items subject to supply chain hiccups at my local supermarket. When I was there yesterday they had some in stock again. But in addition to dropping Uncle Ben, they seem also to have dropped their "Converted" trademark. The label now says just "Enriched Parboiled Rice"--no mention of "Converted Brand (tm)" anywhere.

So they've switched to pagan rice, I guess.

-Paul W.

So they've switched to pagan rice, I guess.

-Paul W.

You remind me of one whackdoodle that was a ..what would you call it - 'extreme' Christian (I'd just call it stupid) who was beside me at a large walk around tasting at the Ridge table They actually declined to taste their Pagani Ranch wine because it was somehow demonic, evil what have you.

Maybe I've told this story already but you've reminded me of it: A friend was getting married and the service was delayed - the mothers of both the bride and groom were in the same limo and the driver got lost on the way to the church. Well, even though you have a happy couple and an officiant, it isn't worth your life to proceed without the mothers present!

So, all of us in the audience are standing around bored, fidgety, and sweating to death - we're all dressed up and it's the hottest damn day of the summer. And we've all been given a handful of Uncle Ben's to throw at the end of the service (this is from the pre-birdseed days) and it's starting to soften in our hands.

Which left plenty of time to consider the officiant. He's a minister by the name of Gerry Cohen. Howzzat? Well, it turns out that he was born Jewish but had an epiphany and went on to become a minister. And here we are with a handful of converted rice....