A supermarket chain name change? You might be just whistling Winn-Dixie
Is Southeastern Grocers about to change the name of its Winn-Dixie chain, a chain with roots that go all the way back to Miami and Dixie Highway?
Then again, the roots of “Dixie” go back to blackface minstrel shows.
As things associated with the Confederate States of America and Jim Crow get sent the way of child labor in the recent fury against American racism, TMZ.com reported that Jacksonville-based Southeastern was considering a name change. TMZ pointed out The Dixie Chicks have decided to be just “The Chicks.”
In response to whether or not a change was going to come, Southeastern Grocers Senior Manager of Corporate Communications Joe Caldwell emailed the Miami Herald:
“At Southeastern Grocers, we are committed to cultivating an inclusive culture and community that promotes belonging, inclusion and diversity. As such, we stand against racism and support the Black Lives Matter movement across our country.
“While our Winn-Dixie banner has proudly served our communities for nearly 100 years, many things have changed during that time, and we have always been and will continue to be responsive to the needs and concerns expressed by the communities we serve.”
While Winn-Dixie serves communities of many ethnic backgrounds, it’s a consistent presence in the Black community. For example, you won’t find a Winn-Dixie in Coral Gables or Miami Beach. But in or around Overtown, Liberty City, Miami Gardens, North Miami and the Northwest Seventh Avenue corridor, Winn-Dixie is almost as easy a find as Publix.
Which would be appropriate, seeing as how Winn-Dixie’s history goes back to W.M. Davis buying Miami’s Rockmoor Grocery in 1925. As a 1926 Miami News advertisement stated, Rockmoor’s Store No. 1 was on Dixie Highway at 59th Street.
The name “Winn-Dixie” came from Winn & Lovett’s 1955 purchase of 117 Dixie Home Stores, Caldwell said.
By then, “Dixie” counted as shorthand for “of the South.” That connection stemmed from the tune “Dixie” or “I Wish I Was In Dixie,” written in the 1850s for blackface minstrel shows that played in the North and the South. The South, however, embraced the song with greater fervor during the Civil War and it symbolized the South by the early 1900s.
This story was originally published June 25, 2020 at 8:14 PM.
