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Burgers in Blackface

Anti-Black Restaurants Then and Now

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Naa Oyo A. Kwate

Aunt Jemima is the face of pancake mix. Uncle Ben sells rice. Chef Rastus shills for Cream of Wheat. Stereotyped Black faces and bodies have long promoted retail food products that are household names. Much less visible to the public are the numerous restaurants that deploy unapologetically racist logos, themes, and architecture. These marketing concepts, which center nostalgia for a racist past and commemoration of our racist present, reveal the deeply entrenched American investment in anti-blackness. Drawing on wide-ranging sources from the late 1800s to the present, Burgers in Blackface gives a powerful account, and rebuke, of historical and contemporary racism in restaurant branding.

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About the Author
View this project on twitter#BurgersInBlackface
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About the Author

Background: The Coon Chicken Inn, Seattle, Washington, ca. 1930. Source: Coon Chicken Inn Records and Graham Family Papers, Archives Center, National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution.

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  • @professahKwate

    In my book #BurgersInBlackface @UMinnPress: Chain began 1957. NAACP protested name as early as ‘61. Protests and la… https://t.co/rr92H89KsA

    June 08, 2020
  • @professahKwate

    Ei! #BurgersInBlackface a @SeminaryCoop notable book for 2019! Happy dance. @fiveoclockbot @UMinnPress Check out… https://t.co/YIz6yFJVkL

    December 16, 2019
  • @LemanieGrace

    Required reading for advertisers: "These marketing concepts, which center nostalgia for a racist past and commemora… https://t.co/E1rycpxeMM

    December 13, 2019
  • @professahKwate

    Hey wow! #BurgersInBlackface was listed among “Books We Recommend”! @UMinnPress @fiveoclockbot @dmkasprzak https://t.co/DstmM4C6RV

    December 03, 2019
  • @professahKwate

    I’m dead. My book #BurgersInBlackface pub with @UMinnPress was on the front table and featured in the email newslet… https://t.co/FXWWAvJGcB

    October 27, 2019
  • @professahKwate

    My first born is here! And awfully cute, I dare say. https://t.co/glYP1rOZHY Thanks to @dmkasprzak @fiveoclockbot a… https://t.co/Q6VyTsvcjW

    August 01, 2019

Table of Contents

  • Cover
  • Title Page
  • Copyright Page
  • Contents
  • Introduction
  • Coon Chicken Inn
  • Mammy’s Cupboard
  • Richard’s Restaurant and Slave Market
  • Sambo’s
  • Conclusion: The Spice of Racism
  • Notes
  • Acknowledgments

Metadata

  • edition
    1
  • publisher
    University of Minnesota Press
  • publisher place
    Minneapolis, MN
  • restrictions
    Please see the Creative Commons website for details about the restrictions associated with the CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 license.
  • rights
    Burgers in Blackface: Anti-Black Restaurants Then and Now by Naa Oyo A. Kwate is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
  • rights holder
    Naa Oyo A. Kwate
  • rights territory
    World
  • series number
    33
  • series title
    Forerunners: Ideas First
  • version
    1.0
  • doi
    https://doi.org/10.5749/9781452964003
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