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merde

Watermelon stereotype (en.wikipedia.org)

submitted 4 weeks ago by merde to c/wikipedia

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After the American Civil War, in several areas of the South, former slaves grew watermelon on their own land as a cash crop to sell. Thus, for African Americans, watermelons were a symbol of liberation and self-reliance. However, for many in the majority white culture, watermelons embodied and threatened a loss of dominance. Southern White resentment against African Americans led to a politically potent cultural caricature, using the watermelon to disparage African Americans as childish and unclean, among other negative attributes.

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[–] [email protected] 3 points 4 weeks ago

I wonder if watermelon being easy to draw and a fun word to say had anything to do with it. It's a lyrical word (ask Harry Styles), and racism is easier to spread when it's a catchy song or rhyme. Plus, painting or drawing a watermelon is dead simple and obvious. Like why not blueberries or peaches? Harriet Beecher Stowe made oranges a thing in Florida, but that's not a stereotype. Is it because nothing rhymes with orange? Was it too hard to make a cartoon peach look different from a cartoon orange?