Racial profiling 1927 style

[emmuzka.livejournal.com]

A licorice ad from 1980. The text in the poster reads "Black Fazer licorice is the best". (It can also be read as "I think that Fazer licorice is best")

The little strongly stylized black boy was the logo of a Finnish candy brand from 1927. Only in 2007 it was changed as it was less than politically correct.

Comments

[shep-shepherd.livejournal.com]

Puts me in mind of the Robertson's Golly, who featured for many years on jars of the company's marmalade and preserves, who met his demise in 2001, officially due to research conducted by Robertson's which found that the Golly character was no longer well-known, but unofficially due to the character reinforcing racist stereotypes.

[badgerpdx.livejournal.com]

Does anyone remember the restaurant "Sambo's"? I remember many many roadtrips as a child, from WI to GA or FL, and pancake breakfasts at Sambo's... asking about the pictures on the wall...something to do with a little African boy and a Tiger, if I remember right. I think they're now called Denny's. (I have to admit, the restaurants looked cooler as Sambo's.

[inkytwist.livejournal.com]

Sambo's are still around, but I think the mascot have been changed to just the Tigers.

[7ofclubs.livejournal.com]

something to do with a little African boy and a Tiger, if I remember right.

The story of Little Black Sambo (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_black_sambo) was a very well-known when I was coming up in kindergarten/elementary in the 1960s-1970s, but has gone out of fashion for being racist.

As the article mentions, there is nothing inherently racist in the story itself, if you rename the character.

[crickie.livejournal.com]

The little boy from Sambo's is Indian, not African. And no, Sambo's did not turn into Denny's. That is a completely different restaurant chain.

[anterrabre.livejournal.com]

All the versions I've seen has that stereotyical African/Black look; I wasn't even aware that there was a verson that portrayed him as being Indian until years later.

[behindthechalet.livejournal.com]

they made a modernized version of Little Black Sambo a few years ago:





the text remained the same.

[crickie.livejournal.com]

It's not a matter of him being portrayed one way or another. The story Little Black Sambo, and the restaurant Sambo's are both about a dark skinned Indian boy. In no version is he ever African. I can only assume you thought he was African because he was black.

[anterrabre.livejournal.com]

Well that, and the fact that "Sambo" used to be a pretty common slur against Blacks in the South. Your mileage may vary. *shrugs*

[coffee-and-gin.livejournal.com]

I think this just further illustrates the main idea, which is that everyone considered "dark" or "Moorish" was considered to be about the same--and they all got portrayed in a way that no human actually looks, with coal-black skin and huge eyes and mouths.

[badgerpdx.livejournal.com]

I barely remember it, so I humbly bow to your superior knowledge. Do you know what restaurant it turned into? I was almost sure it was Denny's.

[crickie.livejournal.com]

Well, Denny's started as Danny's Donuts in 1953. It was later renamed Denny's because of confusion with a competing chain known as Doughnut Dan's.

Sambo's was a restaurant chain started in 1957 and at one point had locations in as many as 47 states. After some controversy over the name in the 70s, some of the locations were forced to rename themselves "The Jolly Tiger". Decline continued and in the 80s, they tried renaming the entire chain to "No place like Sam's". It was ineffective and the company filed for bankruptcy. All locations have gone out of business except the original located in Santa Barbara, and still known as Sambo's.

http://www.sambosrestaurant.com/

[maz-z.livejournal.com]

At first I thought I was looking at my Dragonball Z obsessed friend's LJ... because I thought it was Mr. Popo.

[emmuzka.livejournal.com]

O_O !! Thats amazing likeness!

[chibirhm.livejournal.com]

Why is racism SO CUTE? I FEEL LIKE A BAD PERSON NOW.

[randomneses.livejournal.com]

Ugh.

[st-stello.livejournal.com]

I never understood the upset about that liquorice boy - after all, I've seen loads and loads of similar pictures portraying a 'white' face, and none of them have racially offended me as a white person. So, I don't see what's different about the extremely cute liquorice boy picture. In fact, I think it was racially offensive to remove the liquorice boy from the wrapping - why should only white caricatures be allowed, in general? :o