R.I.P. Aunt Jemima.

For 131 years flapjack eaters have enjoyed pancakes made from Aunt Jemima mix, and (since the 1960s) many have topped their cakes with that sweet syrup bearing the Aunt Jemima name.

Yes, brand founders based this character on a slave. Yes, modern American society does not approve of the enslavement of other people. Still, many family members of the numerous women who have portrayed Jemima over the years did not agree with the rebranding. At least 10 women have professionally played the part of Aunt Jemima, hosting pancake demonstrations, appearing in ads and acting as company spokespersons. This could be a story of how these women helped families of all races enjoy a simple pancake around the breakfast table. It could be a tale of how the character evolved over the past 131 years. A tale about how the portrayal of black women has drastically changed from the plantation slave to a respectable woman with equal rights and nice clothes and earrings who likes to cook breakfast for her family, like so many mothers around the world.

But that’s not divisive enough for the angry mob of 2020. The mob has killed Aunt Jemima and says the brand and this American icon’s history must be cancelled and erased, sending a mixed message to the family members of the Aunt Jemima actors. Should they be proud of their relatives’ role in the advertising industry and promotion of a fun breakfast brand that many enjoyed, or should they be ashamed of the company’s perpetuation of a culture so unwoke in 2020?

A vigil on the Square for Jemima will be forthcoming this month. It will not be silent, because silence is violence.

Look out, Mrs. Butterworth. They will come for you next, and they are blinded with rage and justice.

So, if the system is tilted against the poor, if the criminal justice system preys upon the black man, please protesters, demand the thorough and relentless investigation of George Soros, the Clintons, Zuckerberg, Bezos, the Bush family . . . there’s a good chance some of these people and others of their ilk could be found guilty of some activities far worse than anything George Floyd may have done.

Journalist Lives Matter. Demand justice for Bernell Trammell, the outspoken Wisconsin man and publisher of eXpressions Journal, who was murdered last month.

Somehow there’s an idea out there that feeling guilt for the actions of someone else is something to be promoted, that apologizing for the actions of others is necessary, and that some should be intimidated into issuing an insincere apology to appease the offended.

I came to the conclusion long ago that I do not feel guilt for something someone else has done. Nor do I intend to apologize for things that I am not truly sorry for. We can learn lessons from one another, learn how to act or how not to act. I will repent for my own sins if needed, but I do not intend to offer an “apology” on someone else’s behalf. What do you think?

I tend to believe that refraining from apologizing for the actions of others, or for actions that one is not sorry for, may lead to a greater sense of peace, both individually and collectively.

If it weren’t a potential means of collecting data on participants that could be used in the future for nefarious purposes, I’d suggest that it’s about time everyone took one of these genealogy DNA tests to prove that virtually everyone is now “multi-racial.”

A column in last month’s edition of the Pulse regarding various negative outcomes resulting from fatherless homes was taken by at least one reader as placing “the blame on single mothers,” or “single-mother shaming” or some sort of attack upon the mother.

Many logical and loving people see that column and those statistics, if placing “blame” anywhere, as placing it upon the father. That’s the missing component here. If a mother is doing the best she can to raise a child by herself, why would anyone place blame upon her? Okay, if a father is going to be violent or addicted maybe it’s best that he is not around. But I believe a big point of these types of columns is to send a message to the fathers who just don’t want the responsibility of helping guide their offspring towards making good life choices, and who fail to recognize that this mindset of irresponsibility could create lots of problems that affect not only the child but the rest of society.

Let’s focus on the solutions, rather than blame.

Anyway, those summer peaches are delicious, and hockey is back! Enjoy some playoff hockey in solitude—or at a local establishment with a face covering policy acceptable to you.

Live your life. Get some fresh air.