Sat Jun 20, 2020: Uh-oh.
Source: https://www.visitstillwater.org/event/45th-anniversary-event-at-eskimo-joes/18208/
https://eskimojoes.com/
https://www.google.com/search?q=eskimo+joe%27s+stillwater&tbm=isch&chips=q:eskimo+joe%27s+stillwater,g_1:logo:0SR0dIkmT1M%3D
Posted on June 24, 2016
Speaking of racism
This week we discussed racist logos and brands in our ethics class and it inspired an interesting topic Id like to bring up now.
Living in Stillwater, OK, everyone knows about Eskimo Joes. Known for its unique restaurant, good burgers and fries, live music and good drinks, the people of Stillwater love Eskimo Joes! In fact, its a bit famous. People often drive to Stillwater just to go eat at Joes. But there is something Ive noticed in the last year that greatly concerns me.
Has anyone ever considered the fact that using an Inuit and calling him an Eskimo is racist? Down in Oklahoma we dont know a lot about the Inuit culture. Inuits consider the term eskimo extremely offensive and derogatory, to the same degree of the N-word to describe black people.
Stan Clark and his businesses have been great for our community, no doubt. But each restaurant has exploitative qualities to them. Eskimo Joes, Joseppis (now closed), Mexico Joes, and our newest addition Mojo Joes.
Eskimo Joes environment and food has nothing to do with Inuit culture. An Inuit is simply being used as a gimmick to grab peoples attention and nothing else. The Inuits have a rich and intriguing culture and plastering an Eskimo with a big toothy smile on our billboards, T-Shirts, cups, etc. is pretty disrespectful.
Sadly I think rebranding Eskimo Joes is out of the question. It is such a staple in our community and changing anything to make it more politically correct would result in absolute outrage. The only thing you could do, if you felt passionate enough, is to just not go to Eskimo Joes.