Reagan Escude, Trump Event Speaker, Blasted for Calling Aunt Jemima a ‘Picture of the American Dream’

Reagan Escude, a Turning Point USA ambassador who spoke at President Donald Trump‘s Phoenix event Tuesday, called Aunt Jemima a “picture of the American Dream.” Days before she made her comments, Quaker Oats said it would retire the racist character, which was based on the enslaved “Mammy” archetype. Although there is no evidence that the first Aunt Jemima spokeswoman, Nancy Green, ever became wealthy, Escude stood by her comments after they went viral.

During her speech, Escude discussed her own experience with cancel culture and described how Aunt Jemima was “canceled” after Quaker Oats decided to no longer use the brand name for pancake mix and syrup. “Nancy Green, the original, first Aunt Jemima, she was the picture of the American Dream,” Escude said, reports CNN. “She was a freed slave who went on to be the face of the pancake syrup that we love and we have in our pantries today. She fought for equality, and now the leftist mob is trying to erase her legacy. And might I mention how privileged we are as a nation if our biggest concern is a bottle of pancake syrup.”

Escude’s remarks that Green lived the “American dream” was met with a quick backlash on Twitter. Green was born into slavery in Kentucky and later moved to Chicago to work as a caretaker and nurse for a prominent family. She was hired to play the character at the 1893 World’s Fair, according to obituaries, reports WBEZ. After the fair, she signed a lifetime contract to become the Aunt Jemima Manufacturing Company’s spokeswoman and toured the country to give demonstrations of the pancake mix. She died at age 89 and is now buried in an unmarked grave. There is no evidence to suggest she died wealthy or became one of the first Black millionaires in the U.S., as a meme falsely claims, notes Politifact.

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The Aunt Jemima name was inspired by the song “Old Aunt Jemima,” which was sung by a minstrel show performer and allegedly by slaves. The logo was first used in 1890 and is based on Green’s likeness. On June 17, PepsiCo’s Quaker Oats subsidiary said it would no longer use the logo as its “origins are based on a racial stereotype.”

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Escude, who said on Twitter she was fired from a job for “giving a Biblical response to social issues,” later defended her remarks. “Aunt Jemima rose above what was a horrible situation and turned it into something good, leaving a legacy that Americans will remember forever—hence, the American Dream,” she tweeted. “It’s a shame that most don’t understand!”

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