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Noelle Nuñez
Dr. Taylor
English Composition 102
24 April 2017
The Media is Why Racism is Still Alive
News outlets such as newspaper articles, commercials, and ads are very influential in the
opinions that Americans form. The recurring pictures of African American people on television
to even up on billboards are the reasons why many people can get “tricked” into believing the
harsh stereotypes about African Americans. Despite the many influential African Americans in
the world today, many have constantly continued to be seen as outcasts in society because of
their poor representation in the media.
Since ads became the most popular way to sell products centuries ago during the time of
the enslavement of African Americans in the southern United States, many companies would
represent their products by portraying the common characteristics that all African Americans
were believed to share. In an instance, famously known for being on the front of the pancake mix
box, the Aunt Jemima icon was not admired by many people. In fact, some of her features were
thought to be offensive toward the black community. Her similarities to slaves angered many
African Americans because she wore a bandanna, which was commonly known to be worn my
mammies or a black woman who served white families. She was also created to appear
subservient and ignorant as well as ugly and grotesque. This angered many African Americans
not because Aunt Jemima was portrayed to be lively, but because she was assumed to be a slave
many believed that image was not showing the true feelings of a slave. In fact, slaves were not
suppose to be known as joyful people because of the mental and physical abuse they endured
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during their time of enslavement. Over the years, the Quaker company that produced the pancake
mix character continued to change the appearance of Aunt Jemima to make her look less
controversial instead of removing her all together. Because she has not been removed, many
believe that “Attempts to adapt old racial stereotypes to meet contemporary reality, instead of
simply removing them, are more than reminders of the foolish aspects of our past that we are
unwilling to surrender … Aunt Jemima lives on because white Americans like having a mammy”
(Weems 183). It was not just Aunt Jemima who sparked a lot of controversy because of her look
but also Uncle Ben.
Uncle Ben, who was the face on instant rice boxes, became a controversial figure when
he shared the similar stereotypical images as Aunt Jemima. They were the exact image of how
ads and tradecards saw blacks, as people with “big lips, bulging eyes, and distorted grimaces”
