Black Lives Matter: All the ‘racist’ names being changed

That was only a year ago.

In the wake of the global Black Lives Matter riots and protests sparked by the killing of George Floyd, pressure to rename, redesign or otherwise tear down supposedly “offensive” reminders of the past have gone into overdrive.

So much has happened in the space of a few months, it can be hard to keep track of all the casualties.

Below is an incomplete list from what future generations will look back on as The Year We Finally Ended Racism by Changing Syrup Bottles.

On June 11, Grammy-winning country trio Lady Antebellum announced they were dropping the second half of their name, saying they had originally chosen it to reflect the southern music genres that had influenced them but that they “did not take into account the associations that weigh down this word referring to the period of history before the Civil War, which includes slavery”.

Awkwardly, their new name, Lady A, was already taken by African American blues singer Anita White – who they are now suing to enforce their trademark.

“You’re saying that you are an ally, but you are not,” Ms White told CNN, speaking to the group. “You basically want to bully me and take the name and think that that’s OK. That’s not an ally.”

On June 16, craft beer brand Colonial Brewing Co, based in the Margaret River region of Western Australia, said it would consider changing its name following a long campaign by Melbourne journalist Shaad D’Souza, who accused the company of profiting by “creating nostalgia for a time when First Nations people were killed en masse”.

Managing director Lawrence Dowd said the original owners chose the name because they were “colonising” a famous wine region as a beer brewer and that there wasn’t any “malice” intended.

Also on June 16, disgraced former UK Labour MP Fiona Onasanya launched an attack on Coco Pops, claiming its cartoon monkey mascot was racist and questioning why Rice Krispies “have three white boys representing the brand”.

Kellogg’s has – so far – not caved in, saying the monkey was “created in the 1980s to highlight the playful personality of the brand” and pointing out a “range of characters that we show on our cereal boxes, including tigers, giraffes, crocodiles, elves and a narwhal”.

“We do not tolerate discrimination and believe that people of all races, genders, backgrounds, sexual orientation, religions, capabilities and beliefs should be treated with the utmost dignity and respect,” a statement from the company said.

On June 17, PepsiCo-owned US food manufacturer Quaker Oats said it was changing the name and image of its Aunt Jemima pancake mix and syrup range.

The brand, founded in 1889, features an African American woman in the vein of the “mammy” caricature critics say presents a romanticised image of slavery.

“We recognise Aunt Jemima’s origins are based on a racial stereotype,” Quaker Foods executive Kristin Kroepfl said in a statement.

Descendants of Lillian Richard, who portrayed Aunt Jemima for years, said they and families of other women who brought the character to life were not consulted.

“Erasing my Aunt Lillian Richard would erase a part of history,” her niece Vera Harris told NPR.

Hours later on June 17, Mars announced it would be making changes to its Uncle Ben’s rice brand, which features an elderly African American man in a bow tie.

According to the blurb on the Mars website, the brand’s namesake was a renowned Texas rice grower, while Chicago waiter Frank Brown sat for the portrait.

“As a global brand, we know we have a responsibility to take a stand in helping to put an end to racial bias and injustices,” Mars said in a statement.

“(We) recognise that now is the right time to evolve the Uncle Ben’s brand, including its visual brand identity, which we will do. We don’t yet know what the exact changes or timing will be, but we are evaluating all possibilities.”

Also on June 17, Chicago-based Conagra Brands announced it had begun a “complete brand and packaging review” of Mrs Butterworth’s, including its syrup bottle in the shape of a woman.

“The Mrs Butterworth’s brand, including its syrup packaging, is intended to evoke the images of a loving grandmother,” the company said in a statement.

“We stand in solidarity with our black and brown communities and we can see that our packaging may be interpreted in a way that is wholly inconsistent with our values. We understand that our actions help play an important role in eliminating racial bias.”

Finally on June 17, B&G foods jumped on board by announcing a review of its Cream of Wheat packaging, which features an African American chef.

The character was first introduced in 1893 as “Rastus” – a generic name often considered offensive.

“We understand there are concerns regarding the Chef image, and we are committed to evaluating our packaging and will proactively take steps to ensure that we and our brands do not inadvertently contribute to systemic racism,” the company said in a statement.

“B&G Foods unequivocally stands against prejudice and injustice of any kind.”

On June 18, Colgate announced it was reviewing Darlie, a popular Chinese toothpaste brand sold across Asia that was originally called Darkie and featured a man in blackface on the packaging.

Colgate purchased 50 per cent of the brand’s Hong Kong-based maker Hawley & Hazel in 1985 before changing the name and logo to a man in a top hat in 1989.

“For more than 35 years, we have been working together to evolve the brand, including substantial changes to the name, logo and packaging,” a Colgate spokesman told Reuters.

“We are currently working with our partner to review and further evolve all aspects of the brand, including the brand name.”

The brand’s current name in Chinese still translates as “black person toothpaste”.

On June 20, ice cream company Dreyer’s said it would be retiring the “inappropriate” Eskimo Pie name.

The company plans to have a new name for the century-old vanilla-and-chocolate bar by the end of the year, and will discontinue the Eskimo character – a small, dark-haired child wearing a fur-lined hood.

“We have been reviewing our Eskimo Pie business for some time and will be changing the brand name and marketing,” Dreyer’s head of marketing Elizabell Marquez told Rolling Stone.

“We are committed to being a part of the solution on racial equality, and recognise the term is derogatory. This move is part of a larger review to ensure our company and brands reflect our people values.”

Similarly, the Canadian Football League’s Edmonton Eskimos later announced they would be changing their name.

On June 23, global food giant Nestle announced it was renaming its Red Skins and Chicos lollies sold in Australia as they were now “out of step” with the company’s values – critics say the terms are racially insensitive to Native Americans and Latin Americans.

The Red Skins packaging had already been changed a few years earlier from a Native American in a headdress to a plain red-and-purple wrapper.

In the same review of its 25,000 products, Nestle said it would rename and redesign Colombian chocolate brand Beso de Negra, which translates as “kiss from a black woman”.

On June 25, Unilever announced it would rename its Fair & Lovely skin-lightening creams sold across Asia, after criticism the products promoted negative stereotypes of dark skin tones, the BBC reported.

Unilever also agreed to remove references to “whitening” or “lightening” on the products.

“This product has built upon, perpetuated and benefited from internalised racism and promotes anti-blackness sentiments,” one petition to the global consumer goods company said.

Unilever president of beauty and personal care Sunny Jain said the company recognised “that the use of the words ‘fair’, ‘white’ and ‘light’ suggest a singular ideal of beauty that we don’t think is right, and we want to address this”.

On June 25, American country trio the Dixie Chicks announced they were changing their name to the Chicks, dropping the word “Dixie” after 31 years.

Dixie refers to the Mason-Dixon line, the informal border between the free Northern states and the slave-owning Southern states of the Confederacy.

“We were literally teenagers when we picked that stupid name,” band member Martie Maguire told Variety.

Natalie Maines said they wanted to change it “years and years and years ago”.

“I just wanted to separate myself from people that wave that Dixie flag,” she said.

The widely used word is also being scrubbed from the oldest brewery in New Orleans, Dixie Brewery, and possibly from Utah’s Dixie State University – to name just a few.

On July 1, a UK pub named after 17th century slave trader Edward Colston temporarily changed its name to “‘Ye Olde Pubby McDrunkface” while a replacement was sought.

The Colston Arms in Bristol was one of many places in the city ditching the name after Black Lives Matter rioters tore down Colston’s statue and dumped it in the harbour on June 7.

At the same time, Metro reported that another historic venue, a 404-year-old pub in Kent called The Black Boy, was rebranding as The Restoration.

Another pub in Nottinghamshire with the same name had earlier removed its sign amid fears it would be targeted by protesters.

On July 3, the Western Australian government renamed the King Leopold Ranges in the Kimberley region to the Wunaamin-Miliwundi Ranges, combining two traditional Aboriginal names for the 500km stretch of iconic hills.

Explorer Alexander Forrest originally named the hills after King Leopold II of Belgium in 1879, “for the great interest taken by His Majesty in exploration”, despite the foreign monarch having no connection to Australia.

Leopold II was responsible for an estimated 10 to 15 million deaths during his brutal rule of the Congo Free State from 1885 to 1908.

“I’m delighted we’ve finally got around to removing the name of someone history recognises as a tyrant, who massacred a lot of African people and had no connection to Western Australia whatsoever,” WA’s Aboriginal Affairs Minister Ben Wyatt told the ABC.

On July 17, US grocery store chain Trader Joe’s suggested it would review some of its ethnic product ranges sold under names like Trader Giotto’s, Trader Jose’s and Trader Ming’s, after a petition claimed the branding “exoticises other cultures – it presents ‘Joe’ as the default ’normal’ and the other characters falling outside of it”.

Just four days later the company backflipped, however, issuing a new statement describing earlier reports as incorrect and stressing “we disagree that any of these labels are racist”.

“We do not make decisions based on petitions,” the statement said.

“We thought then (decades ago) – and still do – that this naming of products could be fun and show appreciation for other cultures.”

On July 23, Sydney’s iconic Captain Cook Hotel in Paddington officially changed its name to The Captain Paddington, sparking outrage on social media and talkback radio – but the owners insisted the name change had nothing to do with caving into political correctness.

“This infuriates me,” Sky News host Rowan Dean told 2GB’s Ben Fordham, saying he “smells wokeness” behind the decision.

In a statement on Facebook, the new owners – who took over in January after the business was placed into administration last year – said the decision to rebrand “was a collaborative one with absolutely no motivation drawn from the political discussion surrounding the subject”.

“We assumed that people would still associate The Captain with Captain Cook,” they wrote. “We were simply keen to refresh this space with a new catch phrase as the new owners.”

On July 24, the owners of Coon cheese agreed to “retire” the brand – originally named for its founder, Edward William Coon – after complaints from an Aboriginal activist that it was “racist”.

Saputo Dairy Australia acknowledged that many consumers “cherish the brand and recognise the origin”, but said after “thorough consideration” of the “sensitive situation” it had decided to change the name.

“At this time, we are working to develop a new brand name that will honour the brand affinity felt by our valued consumers while aligning with current attitudes and perspectives,” Saputo chief executive Lino Saputo Jr said.

On July 24, the Washington Redskins NFL team announced that it would adopt Washington Football Team as its interim name for the 2020 season, prompting widespread derision.

“To date, we have been pleased to see so many people putting forward their vision of what the new name and design should be on their social media channels and we look forward to including their feedback as this process progresses,” it said in a statement.

The team had announced earlier in the month that it would drop the Redskins name and logo after 87 years.

The same day, baseball team the Cleveland Indians said it would consult with Native American leaders “to better understand their perspectives”.

Ice hockey team the Chicago Blackhawks had earlier refused to change its name.

On July 28, councillors in Victoria’s Mornington Peninsula indicated they would be dropping the “offensive” name Blacks Camp from a number of locations including a street, a reserve and a kindergarten, after being told it likely stemmed from “some knowledge of the habitation of this area by Aboriginal people”, according to a report from the shire’s head of governance and legal Pam Vercoe.

“The name Blacks Camp is a derogatory term that the shire has been advised is offensive to the traditional custodians of the Mornington Peninsula, the Bunurong Land Council and People of Aboriginal heritage,” Ms Vercoe said in the report, according to the Mornington Peninsula News.