Aunt Jemima, Uncle Ben, and Rastus: Blacks in Advertising, Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow

by Marilyn Kern Foxworth, Alex Haley

This book provides a mirror to our past--a past that has been ignored or overshadowed for too long. From the foreword by Alex Haley

Kern-Foxworth chronicles the stereotypical portrayals of Blacks in advertising from the turn of the century to the present. Beginning with slave advertisements, she discusses how slavery led naturally to the stereotypes found in early advertisements. From the end of the slave era to the culmination of the Civil Rights movement, advertising portrayed Blacks as Aunt Jemimas, Uncle Bens, and Rastuses, and the author explores the psychological impact of these portrayals. With the advent of the Civil Rights movement, organizations such as CORE and NAACP voiced their opposition and became active in the elimination of such advertising. In the final chapters, the volume examines the reactions of consumers to integrated advertising and the current role of Blacks in advertising. Its truly novel subject matter and its inclusion of vintage and contemporary advertisements featuring Blacks make this a valuable work.

Genres: History, Nonfiction

256 pages, Paperback

First published July 30, 1994

Reviews

[Faloni ©]

well don't u just look beautiful in ur icon ♡

[Mary]

This book was just a wealth of information. It was thorough and detailed and expansive. It tracks the representation of black people in the media from the pre-Civil War days (basically the earliest that black people appeared in newspapers when they were reported as runaways) to the present day (or at least the present day for when the book was written). If you ever had any sort of question about black people in the media, I think this book pretty much would have the answer.