After SC mayor calls BLM ‘terror organization,’ some push to boycott Palmetto Cheese
A mayor on South Carolina’s coast not only faces calls for resignation after referring to Black Lives Matter as a “terror organization” in Facebook post last week, but now also faces a possible boycott of the business he owns.
Pawleys Island Mayor Brian Henry, who governs the small town of barely 100 residents, also owns one of the most prominent brands in South Carolina — Palmetto Cheese.
Henry’s online comments, the latest example of racially inflammatory comments from elected officials leading to calls for resignation, now raise issues with Palmetto’s branding, specifically its use of a Black woman on the product’s packaging.
“2 innocent people murdered,” Henry wrote in his Facebook post last Thursday, referring to the killings of two people following a car accident in Georgetown last week. “Not 2 thugs or people wanted on multiple warrants. 2 white people defenselessly gunned down by a black man. Tell me, where is the outrage?”
The same post also said, “This BLM and Antifa movement must be (treated) like the terror organizations that they are.”
Marvin Neal, president of the nearby Georgetown NAACP, said he heard from many people over the weekend asking for a boycott — long one of the most powerful tools used by the organization to bring change — of Henry’s pimento cheese brand. However, Neal said the NAACP would not be making a formal decision on whether to boycott the brand until after performing its due diligence, including evaluating Henry’s actions holistically and meeting with him.
“People are calling me telling me what they are doing. I tell them that’s their choice. I can’t tell them what to do, what not to (do to) address those issues,” Neal said.
Henry has apologized in response to backlash over his comments.
“I regret that my post was misinterpreted, and some perceived it as rationally insensitive,” Henry wrote in a statement last week. “My wife and I care deeply about the black community in Pawleys Island and Georgetown County.”
In response to a request for comment Monday regarding the calls for a boycott of Palmetto Cheese, Henry said he would be issuing an official statement later this week.
A statement prominently displayed on the Palmetto Cheese website says, “We view elevating racial equality as one of our brand’s responsibilities. Palmetto Cheese is evolving and listening to the black American community, our customers, and business partners. We are committed to lead as an advocate for uniting the community, starting with a rebranding of our product identity.”
The woman featured on Palmetto Cheese’s packaging, according to the company’s website, is Vertrella Brown, a former cook at the Sea View Inn, which is owned by the Henrys. According to the company, Brown used the Henry family pimento cheese recipe and began making batches of the cheese for guests in 2003. It quickly grew into a regionally and nationally recognized brand. Brown died in April
Earlier this year, Pepsi Co., the owner of Aunt Jemima branded products, and other companies began taking steps to end the use of Aunt Jemima, Mrs. Butterworth and Uncle Ben for being based on racial stereotypes or glorifying slavery.
Shaun Chavis, a Black woman and former food journalist who lives in Georgia, said it “feels exploitative” to see the image of someone who looks like her used as a marketing device — and, by extension, making money — for a person espousing racist views.
“I absolutely hate it. I really hate it. It feels exploitative, like it feels personally exploitative, even though it’s not me on the packaging or whatever. It feels very wrong,” Chavis said. “It makes me feel like things are never going to change as long as this kind of thing is allowed to continue.”
For many in the eastern U.S., Palmetto Cheese is the very definition of pimento cheese, like Kleenex and tissues.
Several people from states across the Southeast and many others on social media expressed shock and confusion upon hearing Henry’s comments and learning a white man owned a brand they had long assumed, based on the packaging, was Black-owned.
Thomas Horton, who currently lives in Nashville, and Patti Almanza, who lives in Hamlet, North Carolina, both said they had grown up with and loved Palmetto Cheese. Horton even said he believed, based on the product’s packaging, that he had been supporting a Black-owned business.
But after hearing Henry’s statements, both said they planned to boycott the product.
“This is a product owned by a couple of white people who are literally co-opting this lady,” Horton said. “It’s honestly just deceptive marketing.”
Almanza said she struggles to even eat what’s left of it in her fridge. “I get sick to my stomach eating it now.”
Not everyone agrees with the backlash against Henry and his company. One person on Facebook, Patrick Martin, said in a post on the brand’s Facebook page a few days after the controversy began, “We love your cheese and love free speech even more. Continue to be respectful and honest and never give in.” Martin could not be reached for further comment.
Some, like Yasmine Bennani, say discussions around what happened have missed an important point — that it shouldn’t be on Black people alone to call out racism and engage in boycotts.
Bennani, who spoke at a press conference last Saturday regarding Henry’s comments, said it’s important to remember the role white privilege played in Henry feeling comfortable in making his online comment.
“At this point, it’s not a Black person thing,” Bennani said. “This is a white people conversation. Like, we need to speak in support of the Black community. We have to deal with empathy. We have to be an ally, and we have to educate ourselves.”
This story was originally published September 1, 2020 at 2:57 PM with the headline "After SC mayor calls BLM ‘terror organization,’ some push to boycott Palmetto Cheese."
CORRECTION: Patti Almanza said that she never considered the race of the owner of the Palmetto Cheese company when purchasing the product. A previous version of this story was incorrect.
