As the conversation continues across the world about race, we're looking into some of the images and phrases you might not have known were offensive.
Some truths are painful, and this painful truth is-- there are many instances of racism but people don't realize it because the phrases and images have become so normalized.
"Beginning with minstrel shows when they put on black face and putting in these shows as a means of entertainment for white people," says Dr. Paulette Dilworth, Vice President of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion at UAB.
Since the Jim Crow Era, many images and stereotypes of black people never went away and several companies are finally noticing.
Aunt Jemima, Uncle Ben, and the chef on the cream of wheat box all modeled Jim Crow Era stereotypes showing black people in roles of service.
Dilworth says stereotypes and racism continue when people aren't informed.
"Nothing is done to disrupt it at it's very core. The way you do that is to educate people about why this is not just something we would see about fun and games. We're talking about a whole nation of people," she says.
Speaking of educating: The University of Florida is ending its "Gator bait" chant after learning African American babies were used as alligator bait during slavery, the term was also used as a derogatory term for African Americans during the time period.
"More importantly, I think that there needs to be a huge education component around those particular practices because there are still people who are sort of wed to that who will continue to be upset and angry that that happened, but those images are embedded in a history," says Dilworth.
There are also common phrases you may use that have racist roots:
"Peanut gallery"- the peanut gallery was the cheapest section of seats with the worst view during vaudeville shows. Peanuts were sold, and sometimes people in the cheaper seats would throw peanuts at unpopular performers. Often, the peanut gallery was largely occupied by Black theatergoers. According to Babbel Magazine, if the term isn’t racist, it’s classist at the very least, suggesting those who sat in the cheapest section were ill-informed with unwarranted criticism. Vaudeville was developed from minstrel shows and often featured caricatures of Black people portrayed by white actors in blackface.
"Eenie meenie miney mo"- in a previous version of the song, the n-word was used instead of “tiger.” It’s thought that the song describes what slave owners would do if they caught a runaway.
"Grandfathered in"- after the 15th Amendment was passed in 1870, giving black men the right to vote, a number of states instituted poll taxes and literacy tests to make voting more difficult for black people. This was a way around an outright ban on black voting, which had become illegal. Several states passed a law, known as “the grandfather clause,” saying that if you could vote before the 15th Amendment was passed or were the lineal descendant of a voter, you didn’t have to take the tests or pay the poll tax, the magazine article says.
For other examples, see Babbel's article here.
Dilworth says it's time to talk about it all.
"It's an important topic even moreso now than ever before that people need to be uncomfortable with the uncomfortableness of having to have these discussions," she says.
To learn more about the Jim Crow Era and it's history, you can visit the Jim Crow Museum of Memorabilia website here.