More than ever before, recent nationwide movements like Black Lives Matter are forcing or bringing to public attention certain societal changes that people feel need to be made concerning racism and stereotyping in the U.S. For instance, protestors have been tearing down Confederate monuments and memorials which also prompted the House to vote for removal of Confederate statues from the Capitol on Wednesday, an NFL team decided to change its mascot after much controversy (Washington Red Skins), states are changing street names that have a connection to slavery, and a slew of retail companies are changing branding with racist roots (i.e. Aunt Jemima).
Three weeks ago, a Change.org petition was started by a high school senior in California urging the national grocery chain Trader Joe’s to remove and rename certain food branding and packaging, including Trader Giotto, Trader Jose and Trader Ming’s, saying the labels are racist and perpetuate harmful cultural stereotypes. The petition was signed by well over 4,000 signatures to date.
So I would like to interview a store manager of a local Trader Joe’s to see how she feels about the on-going petition, whether of not she thinks Trader Joe’s response to the petition was the right thing to do and why, whether shoppers have previously complained or made comments regarding this matter, whether there has been any kind of backlash or positive impact (i.e. have sales gone up or down) since the petition was started, what she thinks of this change in light of the recent events happening around the country, what changes are taking place in the store (changes to signs and/or advertisement, staff training or internal meetings prompted by the petition), etc. Trader Joe’s story is in response to a presently larger story happening in the U.S; I would like to address the broader issues by approaching it from a more local, personal standpoint.