Matthew Croak 13/12/2014Dr. Katie Moylan MS2006

Change in the Representation of Race in Media Texts

Contemporary media, much like society, has evolved to match the ethos of the particular time period in which it is presented. Government legislation as well as social reformation has undergone radical changes in how diversity is addressed. Throughout history, modes of representing race and ethnicity in the media are examples of this societal change. “Critical Race Theory is the product of a specific geographical history and context.” (Möschel, 8) While this statement was made in regard to analyses of legislation, I think it can be applied to the critical analysis of racial representation in the media and how it has changed over time.

In order to analyze media and its representation of race, it is important to look at the context and time period in which the media representation is presented. Media texts, such as television, advertisements, and print media reflect the audience and time period in which they are received. Throughout history, social norms have been subject to change, whether to obey legal reformation or social action. A myriad of influences can lead to change is societal composition and ultimately change social ideals and understanding. This means that the media’s representation of race is also subject to change. Media representation of race has changed a lot over the last few decades and will change even more in the future. One example of racial representation in media texts undergoing extensive change to coincide with a specific time period is the Aunt Jemima logo.

Today, Aunt Jemima is a widely recognized brand that gained recognition for being the first “ready” pancake mix. Now it is one of the largest companies to produce ready-made breakfast products, such as frozen waffles and pancakes and probably its most famous product, syrup. Chris Rutt and Charles Underwood of the Pearl Milling Company established Aunt Jemima in 1889. There have been four logo changes and six different female actors to be the live face of Aunt Jemima. It was in the early years of establishment when the face of Aunt Jemima took on its first form.

The inspiration for the first Aunt Jemima logo came in 1889 when Rutt attended vaudeville show. A performer in black face was singing a song called “Aunt Jemima.” In addition to black makeup, the performer wore an apron and a bandana, depicting a stereotypical black housemaid. Rutt thought the character and name were perfect for his and Underwood’s new rising pancake flower. The first logo depicted a black-faced woman with an apron and bandana with an absurdly wide grin and full lips. This logo, given the time period in which it was established, was socially and commercially acceptable. It was even enjoyable. Black face performance, the mammy character, a black maid, this was a socially acceptable stereotype for black women in the United States. However, based on today’s standards, this logo would be considered offensive. And as the times changed, so did the Aunt Jemima logo.

The next alteration of “Aunt Jemima” in 1933 was not quite as absurd as the first depiction. The second logo still showed a woman with a very black face, apron and bandana, but her smile wasn’t quite as large and her features appear to be more detailed. It looks as if the person who drew the second logo took more time and effort to draw the “mammy” character, one that wears baggy, tattered clothes. The logo doesn’t look quite

as exaggerated as its predecessor. Despite the changes, today this logo is considered racist. But if we look at its development in its historical context, it was socially acceptable. Some advertisements for the pancake mix even contained narration along with the image. The narrations were meant to be Aunt Jemima herself talking about her product. But this Aunt Jemima was not very well spoken. Her vernacular sounded more like the stereotypical black slang. She said things like fo’ when she meant for, I’se when she meant I am, and chilluns was how she said children. Given the social context, this was an acceptable and even enjoyable novelty that was added to the trademark. But as time progressed, and society’s view towards black people and black culture changed, so did the logo.

In the 1950’s, Aunt Jemima began to look more like an actual person than a cartoon. Still adorning an apron and bandana, her face is not quite as black. Her skin was lighter, but still very dark. She also looks much heavier than the first logos perhaps to better emulate her human counter-part, Ayelene Lewis. Her smile appears more subdued and genuine. She does not have a smile literally from ear to ear and her lips are not as wide. By today’s standards, this can be looked at as racist, but the stereotypical assumptions are not quite as overt in this logo as in its predecessors. The narrations also improved. There were some instances where she said fo’ when she meant for, but the slang was not as obviously derogatory as the prior advertisement. This logo managed to remain the trademark image for the company until 1989, when the last logo was implemented.

For the last 25 years, the face of Aunt Jemima can be considered as more racially tolerant and socially acceptable based on present media standards. Aunt Jemima appears to be more slender than the logos before her, and her skin is much lighter. In addition to anatomical changes, her clothes are different. She now wears pearl earrings, deviating from the stereotypical plantation-style mammy character that would not be able to afford such a luxury. Her hair is no longer hidden underneath a bandana and her torso is not visible so we cannot see an apron. But are these changes making Aunt Jemima appear more socially acceptable or just making her appear whiter? Of course black face is offensive, but why make her skin so light? Could this media text be changing to accommodate a white majority rather than simply appeasing offended minorities?

During the 1920’s, the black community “saw the figure [Aunt Jemima] as a demeaning representation of white desires for blacks to smilingly accept servile, socially inferior roles.” (Brown, 9) However, during this time period began the implementation of Jim Crow legislation in the south. The Jim Crow laws legally segregated and ultimately oppressed the black community. The concerns of the black community were recognized, but not taken too seriously. Even though African Americans were legally free, they were still socially inferior and legally constrained. This is why the first change to Aunt Jemima slogan was minimal. But more substantial changes to the logo would soon be made as the black community was becoming more socially accepted and respected. “Many of the changes that occurred in the portrayal and appearance of the blacks in advertising were directly related to adverse reactions by them [black community] to such pejorative representations during the civil rights movement.” (Kern-Foxworth, xix)

It is apparent through Aunt Jemima’s rise to fame that the novelty of a cheerful black-faced housemaid was very successful among an audience of a white majority. White people seemed to enjoy looking at a black woman in the most stereotypical sense. Perhaps this is because the media representation of black people only a few decades

earlier was mostly in some way related to slavery. Whether the media texts were advertising slaves for sale or slaves that ran away or the civil war, the media representation of black people was ultimately negative.

But with the abolition of slavery, and the end of the civil war, the white majority began to form new opinions about the black community. Some good and some bad but changes in opinion nonetheless. As the time period changed, so did public opinion and the representation of race in media texts. As race became more diverse in the media, black people became more popular in media texts. More evidence of media representation of minorities improving over the past few decades is the change in which black celebrities are becoming more popular in mainstream society.

The most prominent black figures in media texts in recent years have been considered to have more white features than natural African ones. Celebrities such as Rihanna, Beyonce, Will Smith and Chris Brown are only a few of the most prominent black figures in mainstream society, but one thing that they have in common is that their lighter skin color. Women like Rihanna and Beyonce have been considered among the most beautiful black women in popular culture. But they have lighter skin, long straight (sometimes blonde) hair as opposed to a more natural African look, with darker skin and Afro hair. Black figures in media texts are no longer publicized in the stereotypical, servile way they have been in the past, but is the media giving more favor for the figures that have whiter characteristics? This seemed to be the case up until this year.

This year, People Magazine named someone with more natural black features as their Most Beautiful Woman. In 2014, Lupita Nyong'o, with her short Afro hair and darker complexion was named People’s Most Beautiful Woman. Other black women had been named Most Beautiful, such as Beyonce in 2012 and Halle Berry in 2003, but these women had lighter complexions and hair that was not Afro. In the 2014 People article where she was named Most Beautiful, Nyong'o said that she used to think beauty consisted of, “light skin and long, flowing, straight hair." This illustrates how her perception of black beauty and representation has changed. She used to think lighter skin and straight hair was more commercially desirable, but as race became more appropriately represented she has confidence in her own beauty. In addition to Nyong’o, other more natural African stars such as Viola Davis are more prevalent in media texts than they were 20 years ago.

Marilyn Kern-Foxworth has brought up some very valuable points in her book about blacks in advertising, but there is one argument she makes that I have to disagree with. On page 49, she talks about black celebrities in advertising and she quotes Jube Shiver from his book, Black Enterprise. The quote reads, “…Their [black celebrities] appearance has increasingly become more strategic and less symbolic.” This quote is included in the book in order to make a case for continued misrepresentation of blacks in media texts. By including this quote, Kern-Foxworth is insinuating that casting black celebrities in advertisements is merely a marketing strategy used to gain black consumers. There could be a correlation between black consumerism and black celebrity spokespeople, but I do think that casting black celebrities in commercials is more than just a racial gimmick.

Kern-Foxworth uses three examples to present her argument for heightened use of blacks in adveritising in the 1980’s. She presents Michael Jackson, Bill Cosby and Michael Jordon. In the case of Michael Jackson, he was the Pepsico spokesperson in the

1980’s after his success following his album, Thriller. Once Jackson started getting plastic surgery and altering his skin tone to be lighter, it seems to have had an impact on the black community. “Pepsico has shied away from Jackson in more recent years because black youths have voiced disapproval of his plastic surgery and injections to make his facial appearance and lighten his skin tone.” (Kern-Foxworth, 50)

It is true that black youths disapproved of Jackson’s attempts to “deny his heritage and become more European,” (Kern-Foxworth, 50) but she fails to present any marketing data that shows correlation between black disapproval and Pepsico reduction in sales. Just because he isn’t as black doesn’t mean that he deterred the black community from purchasing Pepsico products. He was not originally cast as the spokesperson because he was black. He was cast as the Pepsico spokesperson because he was very famous at the time. The case is the same for Cosby and Jordon.

Cosby was one of the most famous and successful black actors during the 1970’s and 1980’s. His recognizable humor and his popular voice-overs made him the perfect spokesperson for products like Coca-Cola and Jell-O. Cosby was cast because he was one of the most famous and commercially influential personalities at the time, not because he was black. And the same goes for Jordon. He was (an is still regarded by many) the greatest basketball player to ever play the game. Of course he was famous and inspirational, someone that young athletes could look up to. He was used in advertising for his public appeal, his impressive athleticism and not solely because he was black.

Kern-Foxworth is trying to equate black exploitation in advertising in the early 1900’s to the more socially acceptable and objective advertising of the late 1900’s. I strongly disagree with this argument. I believe that media representation of race has changed drastically since the first Aunt Jemima black faced logo. Present day representation of black people does not reinforce and promote plantation life or the mammy character as an icon of black culture. Racial representation in media today is not perfect, but it has certainly improved.

Perhaps the reason why racial representation in media texts has changed is because social norms have changed, not because minority celebrities inspire minority consumerism. Throughout history, fashion styles, cultural behaviors and societal migrations have changed (along with different cultural icons and influences). “The huge migration of blacks into the cities and urban centres of the North…profoundly challenged the ‘relations of representation’ between racially define groups in American society.” (Hall, 256) This “huge migration” is an example of societal shifts that have occurred at different periods in time.

Another reason why the racial representation in the media has improved is because the means for monitoring media activity has improved. Also, the ability for people to access media texts and the capacity to store said texts has become more innovative. John Downing sheds light on the recent scrutiny that media has come under. In his book, Representing Race: Racisms, Ethnicity and the Media, which he co-authored with Charles Husband, he explains why the media has come under such increased scrutiny in recent years. “From the individual concerns of committed young scholars pursuing their own agendas in masters and doctoral research, through to the funded activities of organizations such as Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting or Accuracy in the Media, the media are subject to continued scrutiny.” (Downing, 145) By saying “the individual

concerns,” he is identifying the scrutiny that the media face under personal and individual opinions, rather than institutional regulation.

On the institutional level, Accuracy in the Media was founded in 1969, well after the initial logo for Aunt Jemima came to be the face of a company. Also, the Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting foundation was not founded until 1986, this is only a few years before the final alteration to the Aunt Jemima logo. Downing and Husband are not saying that these foundations are directly responsible for the amendment of the logo and neither am I. What I am trying to present is that the mere presence of more media monitoring agencies could have given rise to more criticisms of various forms of media, such as advertisements. Before any of these foundations were established, the acceptable mammy stereotype and popularization of plantation life style was largely responsible for labeling and identifying what black culture was to a white majority.

As time progresses, social norms and ideals evolve. As these ideals and norms evolve, the media responds, adapting its methods of communication to reflect the time in which it is being presented. This is applicable for technology, for popular culture, and for race. I disagree with the argument that the representation of race in media texts has not undergone some change. The changes to the Aunt Jemima Logo support the idea that as time periods change and society adapts to new social standards, so does racial representation in the media. In the early years of the Aunt Jemima Company, the socially acceptable view of black people was a servile black-faced mammy character. But as time progressed, new ideas and social assumptions drove the Aunt Jemima Company to change its logo to appear more socially and racially acceptable.

The way in which race is represented in the media has changed quite a lot over the last century. Even in the last few decades the media has become more racially inclusive to more than just the black community. Hispanic, Asian, Middle Eastern, these are just a few races that were at one time or another virtually never in the media. I am not trying to dispel racism or other types of racially stereotypical phenomenon. I am aware that racial representation in media texts today is still suffering from various forms inequity. The argument that I am making is that there have been many changes (even improvements) in the representation of race in the media.

Society is constantly changing as time progresses. At one period in time, black people were looked at as white property. At another time they were not property but were still inferior. Today, schools are integrated and minorities have been accepted into the higher political sphere. And as these social changes occurred to satisfy the time periods in which they took place, so did changes in media representation. From an offensive, servile, plantation-inspired logo to a more wholesome and neutral representation of a black woman. In the past, the most beautiful black women were those who had lighter skin and longer hair, but now it seems a woman with a more natural, African look can be considered just as beautiful in media text. Representation of race in the media is by no means perfectly equal and objective, but the positive changes that racial representation has undergone are indicative of future progress.

References Brown, Nikki L.M. and Stentiford, Barry M. (2008) The Jim Crow Encyclopedia.

Westport, CT: Greenwood Publishing Group. Downing, John and Husband, Charles. (2005) Representing Race: Racisms,

Ethnicity and the Media. Illinois, USA/ West Yorkshire, England: Sage. Publications Inc.

Hall, Stuart. (1997) ‘The Spectacle of the “Other”’ in Representation: Cultural Representations and Signifying Practices. London/Thousand Oaks, CA/New Delhi: Sage.

Kern-Foxworth, Marilyn. (1994) Aunt Jemima, Uncle Ben, and Rastus: Blacks in Advertising, Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press.

Möschel, Mathias. (2014) Law, Lawyers and Race: Critical Race Theory from the US to Europe. London, England: Routledge; Taylor and Francis Group.

Aunt Jemima. (2014) The Quaker Oats Company. http://www.auntjemima.com/aj_history/

African American Registry. (2013) Black Women in America: An Historical Encyclopedia. http://www.aaregistry.org/historic_events/view/nancy-green-original-aunt-jemima

Jordon, Julie and Coulton, Antoinette Y. (2014) People. http://www.people.com/people/package/article/0,,20360857_20809287,00.html