LogFAQs > #980105114

So it was two things. First the name "Uncle Ben." Even in the early 1900's black people weren't treated with the same respect as white people. Black men were only ever referred to by their first name or as "boy" "Uncle" or "old man." They were never addressed respectfully as "Mister" because they were seen as beneath white people and not deserving of that respect.

So the uncle in Uncle Ben's is a holdover from that time period. Even if that's not something everyone in the present day was aware of, it still had to go.

Then there's the picture itself. It's not that it's "minstrel-y" it's that he's wearing a suit with a bow tie. Similar to what black servants wore in the past. It perpetuated the image that black people were subservient. And at the time the picture was taken, a majority of black people were domestic servants.

So it's things that don't seem like a big deal if you don't know the history behind it, but I'm glad they changed it.