covid diary: day 98

Here is a small sign of change: Quaker Oats announced today that it will give a new brand name and image to Aunt Jemima, the syrup/pancake brand. Why? Because finally, even Quaker Oats has been forced to admit that the entire brand has always been based on a harmful racial stereotype. Why has it taken them 95 years (Quaker Oats acquired Aunt Jemima in 1925) to realize this? I have no idea. I mean, it's not like they had any way to know they were perpetuating racist tropes of plantation life, minstrel shows (the name "Aunt Jemima" comes from a song of the same name that was popular in minstrel shows), and black women as "mammy."

Absolutely nothing problematic to see here.

Or here.

And definitely nothing troubling here.

And it's not like the calls for change just sprouted up in the current anti-racist environment. People have been calling for Aunt Jemima to change for YEARS. In today's statement, Quaker Oats VP and Chief Marketing Officer Kristin Kropfl put it this way: “We recognize Aunt Jemima’s origins are based on a racial stereotype. While work has been done over the years to update the brand in a manner intended to be appropriate and respectful, we realize those changes are not enough.” Hmm, I wonder what changes she means? Oh, I see, they used a new (but still black) face, removed the "mammy" scarf, and gave her some classy pearl earrings. Problem solved! Except not.

All better, right?

OOOOH, late breaking news: Mars Inc. also announced this afternoon that "now is the right time to evolve the Uncle Ben's brand, including its visual brand identity." Yes, please.

In other news, researchers still don't know why some people get critically ill from COVID-19 while others show only mild symptoms or even no symptoms. They've got a lot of theories, and they're studying the problem, but so far no concrete answers. A U.S. NIH study looked at which proteins appear in the blood of very sick people but not in other people. And a European study found correlations between two blood markers and respiratory failure. One of the markers is blood type:

The researchers found that patients who had Type A blood had a 50 percent higher risk of needing oxygen or a ventilator. Type O blood seemed to have a partial protective effect.

And it's not just the scientists. Those for-profit creepster DNA companies are getting in on the act too:

The consumer genetics giants Ancestry.com and 23andMe are getting involved. 23andMe recently released preliminary findings showing that people with Type O blood are 9 to 18 percent less likely to test positive for covid-19 than people with other blood types. The company is still exploring links between blood type and disease severity.

I mean, if that's the case, that's great for me. And my mom and dad and all my siblings. (Mom, Bethany, J, and I are all O negative; Dad and Lon are O positive.) Maybe not so great for Mike and the boys (all AB positive) though. I realize it's only a preliminary study (and basically anecdotal information from the DNA companies), but it's interesting. I could use any partial protective effect I can get.

Nationwide cases: 2,154,004. Deaths: 117,576.