The Aunt Jemima brand, acknowledging its racist past, will be retired

Quaker Oats is retiring the more than 130-year-old Aunt Jemima brand and logo, acknowledging its origins are based on a racial stereotype.
"As we work to make progress toward racial equality through several initiatives, we also must take a hard look at our portfolio of brands and ensure they reflect our values and meet our consumers' expectations," the Pepsi-owned company said in a statement provided to CNN Business.
Aunt Jemima's appearance has evolved over time. The brand's origin and logo is based off the song "Old Aunt Jemima" from a minstrel show performer and reportedly sung by slaves. The company's website said the logo started in 1890 and was based on Nancy Green, a "storyteller, cook and missionary worker." However, the website fails to mention Green was born into slavery.

There have been repeated calls for the company to change the logo. In a 2015 opinion piece published in the New York Times, Cornell University professor Riché Richardson said the logo is "very much linked to Southern racism."
Richardson said the Aunt Jemima logo is based on a "'mammy,' a devoted and submissive servant who eagerly nurtured the children of her white master and mistress while neglecting her own." A statue of a slave mammy stereotype was approved by the US Senate in 1923, but it was never built.