When they recognized that their everyday brand of rice sported a racist logo and caricature for a mascot, two Atlanta teens knew they had to speak up, 11Alive reports.
Months later, the duo successfully petitioned the Houston-based Riviana Foods Inc. to discontinue selling their Mahatma Rice products with the image.
Rani and Rohan Shrivastava, 15 and 13, were inspired to raise awareness after reading articles about Aunt Jemima and Uncle Ben changing their racist branding, according to Indo American News.
With encouragement from their parents and help from a cousin, the pair set up social media accounts and a change.org petition that would garner more than 500 signatures to protest the racist logo, Indo American News reports.
“We had seen a brand like Aunt Jemima and Uncle Ben, they were taking away their logo,” Rani Shrivastava said, according to 11Alive. “This was our little piece of that – our justice.”
In the change.org petition, the team said the logo was “another example of cultural appropriation against a minority,” and creates a “toxic and comedic image of Indian people.”
“The ‘Indian man’ is depicted wearing a turban and kurta pajama pants… Using the clothing to portray an Indian, while still giving the cartoon white skin makes the logo even more offensive,” the petition said. “The caricature is also seen holding a wand. This insinuates that he is a genie or magician. Overall, this ‘Indian man’ not only demonstrates cultural appropriation, but also a racial stereotype.”
The Shrivastava siblings emailed Riviana Foods Inc. in the summer, with representatives initially stating that the logo had already been discontinued, 11Alive reports. When the teens pointed out that the images were still used on the company’s official website and still seen on products in Atlanta stores, the company agreed to the teen’s deadline of October to stop using the logo completely.
An update on whether or not Riviana Foods Inc. will follow through will be coming in October, the efforts’ social media pages say.
“It was amazing to see how their actions created change,” Irma, the teens’ mother said, according to 11Alive.
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