'Dixie' Chicks no more: As Confederacy loses its luster, bands and brands rush to abandon its symbols
David Knowles
June 25, 2020, 9:57 PM GMT+2
On Thursday, the Grammy Award-winning country trio the Dixie Chicks announced they had
dropped the word “Dixie” from their name.
“We want to meet this moment,” the group, now known just as the Chicks, said in a message posted to its website that accompanied the release of a new song and video praising young protesters.
“Dixie” is the nickname for states south of the Mason-Dixon Line that seceded from the Union in 1861 over slavery.
The move by the band, which follows weeks of demonstrations over the killing of George Floyd by Minneapolis police, is the latest instance of a nationwide move to abandon symbols of the Confederacy, African slavery and Jim Crow.
Another popular country band, Lady Antebellum,
shortened its name earlier this month, changing “Antebellum,” which refers to the era before the Civil War, to simply “A.”
In a statement to fans explaining the name change, the band said it was “regretful and embarrassed to say that we 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.”
Quaker Oats, the company that makes Aunt Jemima brand pancake mix and syrup, which bears the image of a Black woman, said it would rebrand the products.
“We recognize Aunt Jemima’s origins are based on a racial stereotype,” Kirstin Kroepfl, vice president and chief marketing officer of Quaker Foods North America, said in a press release last week. “As we work to make progress toward racial equality through several initiatives, we also must take a hard look at our portfolio of brands and ensure they reflect our values and meet our consumers’ expectations.”
Aunt Jemima brand syrup. (Brendan McDermid/Reuters)
Other brands, including Uncle Ben’s rice, Mrs. Butterworth’s pancake mix and syrup, and Cream of Wheat porridge, also plan to replace existing packaging due to associations with demeaning racial stereotypes.
“Aunt” and “Uncle” were titles white Southerners often applied to older Black people — in order, some authorities say, to avoid addressing them as “Mr.” or “Mrs.”
The changes taking place extend far beyond product marketing. Two days after race car driver Bubba Wallace, who is African-American, voiced support for
banning the Confederate flag at NASCAR events, the Daytona Beach, Fla., stock car racing company complied.
“The presence of the Confederate flag at NASCAR events runs contrary to our commitment to providing a welcoming and inclusive environment for all fans, our competitors and our industry. Bringing people together around a love for racing and the community that it creates is what makes our fans and sport special. The display of the Confederate flag will be prohibited from all NASCAR events and properties.”
Statues of Confederate icons like Jefferson Davis; Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest, a founder of the Ku Klux Klan; and Gen. Robert E. Lee have been defaced in recent weeks, and many have been either scheduled for removal or ripped from their pedestals.
Mississippi lawmakers face renewed pressure to remove the Confederate battle emblem from the state flag. Walmart announced this week that it would stop displaying the state flag at its 85 stores there.
“We believe it’s the right thing to do,” the company said in a statement that came five years after it banned the sale of items in its stores that included a Confederate flag.