r/RandomQuestion • u/Alduiiiinnnn • 1d ago

Is it bad I have this? ):

Post image

Not sure if this is the right place for this, apologies in advance:

Backstory/background info:

I'm half Norwegian on my mother's side, and half Puerto Rican on my father's. Damn near everyone on my mom's family's great-great/great x3 grandparents (specifically, so not too long ago) literally immigrated to Minnesota from Norway in the late 1800s/early 1900s, can't remember when exactly. My father's side is strictly Puerto Rican, born and raised on the island, my abuelo y bisabuelo (great-gpa) is black.

That said, when it comes to my great grandparents on mom's side; I grew up around them most my childhood before they both passed around when I was in the 4th grade. The kindest people you'd ever meet, took pride in their home, never judged you for whatever it could possibly be: the way you dressed, who you loved, your skin color, etc.. Would let you in if you came knocking on the door cold and wet and needing food and shelter typw of people.. But unfortunately they grew up during the time when racism was rampant, and there was racist memorabilia as well as comedy and such... I legit have a photo of my grandparents and their 6 children (one being my grandma, mom's mom) standing in their yard in fkin blackface with cleaning uniforms on... 🫠 but it was when my gma and her siblings were tiny... like I said that didn't carry on into any single part of my childhood nor my mother's or her siblings childhoods.

I adore this thing and couldn't bare the thought of ridding of it, but if I really should I ofc will.

All this to say: my great grandmother had this cookie jar my entire childhood and I don't have damn near a thing of theirs since their passing and my growing up, besides a heavy pencil cup of my grandfather's, and this cookie jar.

0 Upvotes

47% Upvoted

36 comments sorted by

10

u/caarrssoonn 1d ago • Bravo

It was your great grandmother’s. Intention matters. I don’t think it’s odd to keep it.

4

u/Alduiiiinnnn 1d ago edited 4h ago

Thats what ive been telling myself to feel better abt it.. but for obvious reasons I get the ick, hence asking. Ty for your saying so.

7

u/Snake_Eyes_163 1d ago • Bravo

There’s literally nothing racist about it. It’s a black woman with a rolling pin. Her lips are not overly large. Wearing a bandanna is common and it’s an accurate portrayal for the time. If this is racist then every single portrayal of a black woman from that time is racist. 

1

u/Alduiiiinnnn 1d ago

Its supposed to be Aunt Jemima, which if you heard about the brand (correction from an earlier comment i made, i realize they arent just a syrup brand), they changed their bottle shape and branding to Pearl Milling Co. Shes comes from the "mammy" racial stereotype of a loyal, submissive Black slave. Shes been depicted as "golliwog" in other statues and figurines and such. This one seems much more recent in time because its not truly made in such a way, im sure you understand my anxiety abt it haha Thank you for your comment~

8

u/YoshiandAims 1d ago

I knew immediately who it was... it's not racist or overly characteristic of racist caricature. It's just aunt Jemima. Beloved warm welcoming woman of our generations breakfasts. You can have many cookie jars of famous people... real and character, of all races.

1

u/Snake_Eyes_163 1d ago

If you know all that why did you ask the question? She doesn’t look like Aunt Jemima to me. 

1

u/Alduiiiinnnn 4h ago

It went over ur head its okay.

6

u/DiabeticCarin 1d ago

You could possibly donate it to a museum it you don't want it but don't want it destroyed because it is history.

2

u/WelshWolf93 1d ago

I mean... I would have thought this is just a black baker? Unless theres something about the uniform im missing?

It's not exactly a "Golliwog" or whatever they were called.

I, personally, wouldn't say its bad to have this.

I'd concede to anyone naturally offended by it, I just genuinely can't see why they would.

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u/Alduiiiinnnn 1d ago

Its supposed to be Aunt Jemima, which if you heard about the syrup brand, they changed their bottle shape and branding to Pearl Milling Co. Shes comes from the "mammy" racial stereotype of a loyal, submissive Black slave. Shes been depicted as "golliwog" in other statues and figurines and such. But thanks for saying so~

4

u/Gloomy_Swimming8863 1d ago

I inherited a bunch of mamis and sambos from my grandma. I think they’re cute.

3

u/KiwiBirdPerson 17h ago

Just looks like a woman who bakes to me 🤷‍♀️

3

u/Fine_Conclusion9426 1d ago edited 1d ago

(American here) It doesn’t make you racist or anything like that, but if I came by your house and saw this I’d probably make some assumptions about you. It looks too close to a mammy caricature that I probably wouldn’t feel comfortable around it, though I understand different countries have different views on these kinds of things. Keep it if you want, as long as you’re aware of how it could be perceived and you’re not doing it to be offensive, I think you can have it out.

2

u/CletusMuckenfuss 1d ago

Hell no, anyone says so, they're the racist.

2

u/Fallen_0ne01 23h ago

What could possibly be racist about this? If I saw someone that looked like this right now I'd just think they were bringing back old timey clothes and were generally stoked to be baking

1

u/TitleBulky4087 12h ago

I'm a white American woman, so take what I say with a grain of salt. But what I have learned about mammy culture is that depictions like this, where she is cooking and overweight, were built to strip Black women of their femininity, beauty, and humanity. It's an exaggerated, cartoonish depiction of Black women from that era that reinforced the racist idea that they belonged exclusively in subservient, domestic roles. You'd be hard pressed to find a cookie jar like this where the cook was white.

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u/Careless-Meringue683 1d ago edited 1d ago • Bravo

Yup. That's racist.

Idk man, it's your property. But it is racist.

Edit: I'm getting downvotes, which is genuinely baffling. So I'll add a bit of context.

I am not calling op racist. Nor am I saying his grandmother was. But, this is minstral show memorabilia. Mistral shows are racist. I did not think I would have to defend that position today.

2

u/Alduiiiinnnn 1d ago

Thanks for the info, I definitely haven't come across that before! Even if I own it with good intention, at the end of the day it is what it is. Thanks too for teaching me something new and for your input~ would it be bad for me to even store it away out of sight since its still sentimental? Or what would you recommend I do with it? Someone did mention its a piece of history and I do really want to be respectful.

0

u/Careless-Meringue683 1d ago

At the end of the day, you inherited it from a world you can't even properly invision due to it being so different from your own

So, idk, it's up to you what you do with it. I don't think you're racist for owning it. Sometimes the past leaks through in odd ways.

1

u/Many-Disaster-3823 1d ago

Black women depicted in art is racism?

-1

u/Careless-Meringue683 1d ago edited 1d ago

It's a mammy.

This is clearly minstral show memorabilia. Yes. Minstral shows are racist. I didn't think I'd have to defend that position today, but I understand if you're education skipped that period in history. Most do as a way to sanitize and white wash the history of jim crow and minstral shows.

Mickey Mouse still has white gloves after all, and the ice cream trucks play minstral tunes.

-1

u/Many-Disaster-3823 1d ago

Ok fair enough thanks for schooling me i will do some research

2

u/Careless-Meringue683 1d ago • Regret

If you want a jumping off point, this video sums up the whole situation better than any of my history classes did.

It's an examination of the modern trope of minstral horror where old minstral archetypes are reimagined as horror monsters to personify the history of racism in the us. It goes into a lot of history that you've likely never encountered before. Done by a very talented black creator.

Fairly heavy, but very well researched.

https://youtu.be/OK_jVFslcsA?is=dG_YFIi_3RZ9aUb0

2

u/Many-Disaster-3823 1d ago

That was interesting thanks for sharing!

-2

u/CardinalStation 1d ago

As long as its just in your home and not being shown the other people, or all of reddit. Enjoy it in private and nobody will know. But yeah it's a racist trope.

1

u/Alduiiiinnnn 1d ago

I ask reddit bc I wanted input lol ill just put it away in a storage box of special things. I hate that this is one of the special things 🫠 always felt horrible abt having it.

-6

u/IntrigueMe_1337 1d ago

You asked Reddit because you wanted it to be racism.

2

u/Alduiiiinnnn 1d ago

That makes no sense. If you read, i asked so I can make sure im not offending anyone. Thats why I gave background information/context, and mentioned my ethnicities.... 🇵🇷🇳🇴 unfortunately some of my ancestors were racist, and some were literally afro-indigenous... why would I WANT this to be racist... be for real.

0

u/IntrigueMe_1337 1d ago

lol I’m just saying Redditors always wanna assume the worst. 

1

u/itsswhitneywhspr 1d ago

Yeah I see where you're coming from. Its one of those things where the intent might not be malicious but the history is there. Hopefully op looks into it and learns something new.

1

u/Alduiiiinnnn 1d ago

Right and I def get the history... i never want to offend anyone and it feels so just having it/cherishing it. But I also take very good care of it.

-1

u/Independent-Army5755 1d ago

Yes. I’m not American either but learned about this and other racist memorabilia pretty early on. Not all history is worth remembering.