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

by Marilyn Kern-Foxworth (Author)

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.

Back Jacket

In this volume, the first work ever on this topic, Kern-Foxworth examines 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 the 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. The truly novel subject matter and inclusion of vintage and contemporary advertisements featuring blacks make this a valuable work.

Author Biography

MARILYN KERN-FOXWORTH is Associate Professor in the Department of Journalism at Texas A&M University. In Spring 1994, she was the Garth C. Reeves Endowed Chair at Florida A&M University Department of Journalism, Media, and Graphic Arts. She is the first African-American to receive a Ph.D. with a concentration in advertising. An accomplished, award-winning scholar, in 1993 she became the first person of color to receive the Kreighbaum Under-40 Award from the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication for outstanding performance in teaching, research, and public service. In 1981, she received a Kizzy Award from the Black Women Hall of Fame Foundation and was cited as one of 12 outstanding African-American women in America, and in 1993, she was one of several African-American women honored nationwide by the consortium of Doctors, Ltd. for her accomplishments as mass media trailblazer and pioneer.