DISQUS

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

  • Villager · 1 month ago
    Poor taste on the part of the young man. I don't have any problem with him suffering consequences from his racially-based insult of Black folks.

    peace, Villager
  • Janet Shan · 1 month ago
    Villager -- I wouldn't throw this kid under a bus, considering some of the costumes I have seen worn for Halloween.
  • dawneemaire · 1 month ago
    I think the underlying issue with the school and our society on general seems to be why we feel the color black is offensive. As the article points out, the issue should be with Quaker's representation of the character and not with the boy who was subject to it throughout childhood. Some of us may know the historical connotations of black face, but would bet that is not being taught in Mr. Jeziorkowski's Long Island high school classes. Judging from his lack of knowledge about the rule, I would bet racial issues are (still) avoided all together. This costume was not meant to be offensive, but to be commical, as we can see from his costumes from previous years...
  • Janet Shan · 1 month ago
    Dawneemaire -- Thank you for your comments. I have long felt that if you
    have a problem with Aunt Jemima, then the outrage should start with Quaker
    Oats. I would venture to say, some of the same people who have a problem
    with this young man, have a box of Aunt Jemima pancake mix or syrup in their
    pantry. I, too, believe he wore the costume to be comical, not racist. I
    wouldn't throw him under the bus for this.
  • shamontiel · 1 month ago
    This was in poor taste and it was racially insensitive. I do believe he should've been sent home, but my thing is why didn't he dress as Aunt Jemima now as opposed to the one from the 1940s? http://www.fda.gov/ucm/groups/fdagov-public/doc...
  • Janet Shan · 1 month ago
    Shamontiel -- Maybe his costume was offensive, but I certainly don't think
    it rose the the level of being racist. Quaker Oats should have been
    pressured to drop the Aunt Jemima name a long time ago. It is a throwback to
    a dark period in American history. Updating the image doesn't change the
    history behind the product. Given the racial climate in the country during
    the 1940s, portraying Aunt Jemima as a big black mammy didn't rock the boat
    that much.
  • Janet Shan · 1 month ago
    Shamontiel -- I actually never saw a picture of his costume. Did you? I
    don't recall seeing it anywhere on the websites of the local news outlets.
    Again, your question speaks to the image of Aunt Jemima in the early days.
    There was no widespread protests about the image being portrayed. It doesn't
    matter what version of Aunt Jemima this young man portrayed, it is still a
    reminder of an ugly time in American history and the fact that Quaker Oats
    shares a big part of the racism that emanated from this product.