In mid-June 2020 the Aunt Jemima’s parent company Quaker Oats announced that they will be taking down the pancake and syrup brand following the racial stereotypes promoted by the brand’s historical character. A recent photo showing a black lady’s leg chained to a table went viral, Was Aunt Jemima Leg Chained To A Able?
Several other brands such as Mrs. Butterworth’s, Uncle Ben’s, Eskimo Pie, etc., came under the radar for promoting racism and decided to re-brand or shutdown their product line-up.
After the controversial statement from Quaker Oats, the people went crazy on social media with numerous conspiracy theories suggesting that Aunt Jemima was a Millionaire, Aunt Jemima Leg Was Chained To A Table, etc.
Nancy Green was one of the first African-Americans models hired to portray the character of Aunt Jemima.
Read: Is Mrs. Butterworth’s Black or White?
Was Aunt Jemima Leg Chained To A Table?
No, the recent photo showing a lady chained to a table is miscaptioned as the woman holding the pancakes is not Nancy Green (nor any woman who played her in an official capacity).
Also, Aunt Jemima did not become a millionaire for portraying the fictional character.
The photograph doing rounds on social media is a cropped version of the original photo. In the original photo, her right leg is chained to a table. Take a look.
The viral photograph claiming Aunt Jemima chained to a table is false. It is just a modern interpretation of an artist Sally Stockhold who took the picture in 2008 and named it “Aunt Jemima: I Laughed Because They Paid Me.” The picture is listed in a gallery titled “myselfportraits ode to icons and other absurdities.”
Conclusion: The lady in the image is not Nancy Green nor any other woman associated with Aunt Jemima in its history/timeline. Contrary to the perception, the woman in the photograph is actually a white woman in blackface portraying Aunt Jemima’s character as a happy slave.
Stay tuned with TCD for more details.
