The decision on behalf of Quaker Oats to remove all branding of Aunt Jemima has split the public since it was announced on Wednesday, June 17th.
Quaker Oats, a subsidiary of PepsiCo, has owned the Aunt Jemima brand for the past 131 years. In the wake of Black Lives Matter protests around the world, Quaker Oats has listened to the criticism that their Aunt Jemima brand perpetuates racist stereotypes.
There were multiple women who were the ‘models’ for Aunt Jemima, but the most famous of them was Nancy Green.
Now, the alleged great-grandson of one of the “Aunt Jemima” figures has made a statement against Quaker Oats’ decision.
After decisions by Aunt Jemima and Uncle Ben’s to overhaul their imaging in the wake of renewed calls for racial equality, Conagra Brands announced Wednesday it has “begun a complete brand and packaging review on Mrs. Butterworth’s. The Mrs. Butterworth’s brand, including its syrup packaging, is intended to evoke the images of a loving grandmother,” Conagra Brands said in a statement Wednesday. “We stand in solidarity with our Black and Brown communities and we can see that our packaging may be interpreted in a way that is wholly inconsistent with our values.”. (Photo by Ron Adar/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)
WHO IS AUNT JEMIMA’S GREAT-GRANDSON?
There have been numerous women who were models for Quaker Oats’ Aunt Jemima. As mentioned, Nancy Green was the most well-known, but Anna S. Harrington was later used as one of the models.
Larnell Evans Sr. is an alleged great-grandson of Anna S. Harrington.
The Evans family have feuded with the brand previously. In 2014, a lawsuit was filed against PepsiCo seeking monetary compensation, as the Aunt Jemima models had not been paid what they were promised. This resulted in a $3 billion lawsuit which was led by Larnell Evans Jr. and D.W. Hunter.
U.S. District Judge Edmond E. Chang dismissed the lawsuit in 2015 for lack of proof, claiming the two men could not prove they were related to Anna S. Harrington.
THE EVANS FAMILY AND AUNT JEMIMA
Chang dismissed the case stating that those claiming to be Aunt Jemima’s relatives did not have the evidence to back up this claim.
Chang notes, “The only information about Plaintiffs’ connection to Harrington provided by the amended complaint is an account of how Hunter received a photograph (now lost) of Harrington from his grandmother and of Plaintiffs’ attempt to locate Harrington’s grave in Syracuse, New York.”
So, it is still unclear whether Larnell Evans is actually related to one of the original “Aunt Jemima’s” at all.
Larnell Evans Sr. said:
“This is an injustice for me and my family. This is part of my history, sir. The racism they talk about, using images from slavery, that comes from the other side — white people. This company profits off images of our slavery. And their answer is to erase my great-grandmother’s history. A black female. … It hurts.”
Larnell also continued to state that he failed to win the case as they had a “bad lawyer” and were coming up against PepsiCo’s corporate team. This well could have been what happened back in 2015.
He continued to tell Mark Konkol: “After making all that money —and now’s the time when black people are saying we want restitution for slavery — they’re just going to erase history like it didn’t happen? … They’re not going to give us nothing? What gives them the right?”
The ‘Aunt Jemima debate’ clearly isn’t going anywhere any point soon; people are no clearer on their stance, particularly now with Larnell Evans’ comments in the mix.
