Families of former Aunt Jemima ambassadors concerned about rebranding

The families of two women who portrayed Quaker Oats' Aunt Jemima expressed concerns about the company's decision to scrap the controversial branding, saying it could erase their family histories.

Relatives of the late Lillian Richard and Anna Short Harrington, two women who were hired by Quaker Oats to portray the character in the 1920s and 1930s, spoke out this week after PepsiCo's Quaker Oats said the brand's "origins are based on a racial stereotype."

The Aunt Jemima brand originally depicted a heavy-set black woman wearing the garb of a kitchen maid and a kerchief commonly worn by slaves.