Long Island Student, Dean Jeziorkowski, Sent Home from School for Dressing Up as Blackface Aunt Jemima for Halloween

Dean Jeziorkowski, a white student from Commack High School in Long Island, NY, said he was sent home from school last Friday because he dressed up as a black Aunt Jemima for Halloween. He said administrators at the school told him that the outfit was racially insensitive and that he had to either scrub off his black makeup or go home. He said he didn't consider the costume offensive and said he has been dressing up as female characters, including Pocahontas and Wilma Flintstone, every Halloween since third grade. Personally, I found the Aunt Jemima more offensive coming from Quaker Oats which uses the character to advertise pancake mix and syrup, than this young man wearing blackface.

The Aunt Jemima character- a smiling African-American woman - is a registered trademark of the Quaker Oats Co. and has undergone significant portrayal revisions since it was first introduced in 1893, a fat black mammy. The image of Aunt Jemima has gone through several revisions -- with her headband removed and giving her pearl earrings and a lace collar. Sorry, but six or seven decades ago she didn't stand for warmth, nourishment and trust. It was more like nourishment and trust of blatant racism. How else would you describe a slogan from an Aunt Jemima ad in the 1940s that said: "Happifyin' Aunt Jemima Pancakes Sho' Sets Folks Singin'!" Here's another one:

The term "Aunt Jemima" has often been used in a colloquial form as the female version of the derogatory "Uncle Tom" portrayal of African-Americans, but I wouldn't throw this teenager under a bus and the NAACP needs to back off and find another cause to champion. I can't recall them pressing for Quaker Oats to change the name from Aunt Jemima because of the racist connotations during the early years. I don't think Jeziorkowski, a football player and wrestler, meant to offend anyone.