watermelon stereotype

{{Short description|Racist stereotype of African American people}}

The watermelon stereotype is an anti-Black racist trope originating in the Southern United States. It first arose as a backlash against African American emancipation and economic self-sufficiency in the late 1860s.

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.{{cite journal |last=Black |first=William R. |date=2018 |title=How Watermelons Became Black: Emancipation and the Origins of a Racist Trope |url=https://muse.jhu.edu/pub/12/article/687203/pdf |journal=Journal of the Civil War Era |volume=8 |issue=1 |pages=64–86 |issn=2154-4727 |jstor=26381503}}

History

File:Watermelons in Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper 1866-12-15 p 197.jpg}}]]

The first published caricature of Black people reveling in watermelon is believed to have appeared in Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper in 1869. The stereotype emerged shortly after enslaved people were emancipated after the Civil War. Defenders of slavery used it to portray African Americans as a simple-minded people who were happy when provided with watermelon and a little rest.{{cite web | url=http://thesocietypages.org/socimages/2012/12/26/slavery-and-the-watermelon/ | title=Watermelon: Symbolizing the Supposed Simplicity of Slaves | access-date=March 30, 2013 |first=Lisa|last=Wade|date=December 26, 2012|website=The Society Pages}} The slaves' enjoyment of watermelon was also seen by the Southern people as a sign of their own supposed benevolence. The stereotype was perpetuated in minstrel shows, often depicting African Americans as ignorant and lazy, given to song and dance and inordinately fond of watermelon.{{cite book|title=Fences|series=Shmoop Literature Guide|location=Los Altos |publisher=Shmoop |year=2010 |page=26 |isbn=9781610624190 }}

The link between African Americans and watermelons may have been promoted in part by African American minstrels who sang popular songs such as "The Watermelon Song" and "Oh, Dat Watermelon" in their shows, and which were set down in print in the 1870s. The 1893 World's Columbian Exposition held in Chicago planned to include a "Colored People's Day" featuring African American entertainers and free watermelons for the African American visitors whom the exposition's organizers hoped to attract. It was a flop, as the city's African American community boycotted the exposition, along with many of the performers booked to attend on Colored People's Day.{{cite book|title=The Oxford Companion to American Food and Drink|last=Smith|first=Andrew F.|publisher=Oxford University Press|location=Oxford, England|date=2007|isbn=9780195307962|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/oxfordcompaniont0000unse_e9i9}}

File:Who Said Watermelon.jpg caricature from the early 1900s. The postcard shows a picture of a Black boy eating a watermelon, with a stereotypical poem underneath.]]

During the early 1900s, postcards often depicted African Americans as animalistic creatures "happy to do nothing but eat watermelon", which has been seen as a bid to dehumanize them.{{cite web|website=History on the Net|url= https://www.historyonthenet.com/authentichistory/diversity/african/3-coon/5-chickwatermelon/index.html|title=The Coon Obsession with Chicken & Watermelon|access-date=March 30, 2013}} Other such "Coon cards", as they were popularly known, depicted African Americans stealing, fighting over, and becoming watermelons.{{cite web|publisher=Ferris State University|url= http://www.ferris.edu/jimcrow/question/may08/|website=Jim Crow Museum of Racist Memorabilia|title=Blacks and Watermelons|date=May 2008|access-date=March 30, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130522105436/http://www.ferris.edu/jimcrow/question/may08/|archive-date=2013-05-22}} One poem from the early 1900s (pictured right) reads:{{cite web|url=https://www.historyonthenet.com/authentichistory/diversity/african/3-coon/5-chickwatermelon/1900sc_Postcard-Who_Said_Watermelon.jpg|title=WHO SAID WATERMELON?|access-date=March 30, 2013|website=History on the Net}}

{{poemquote|George Washington Watermelon Columbus Brown

I'se black as any little coon in town

At eating melon I can put a pig to shame

For Watermelon am my middle name}}

For several decades in the late 19th century through to the mid 20th century, the stereotype was promoted through caricatures in print, film, sculpture and music, and was a common decorative theme on household goods.

=In cinema=

At the end of the 19th century, there was a brief genre of "watermelon pictures" – cinematic caricatures of African American life showing such supposedly typical pursuits as eating watermelons, cakewalking and stealing chickens, with titles such as The Watermelon Contest (1896), Dancing Darkies (1896), Watermelon Feast (1896), and Who Said Watermelon? (1900, 1902). The African American characters in such features were initially played by Black performers, but from about 1903 onward, they were replaced by white actors performing in blackface.{{cite book|title=African Americans and Popular Culture|editor-last=Boyd|editor-first=Todd|chapter=Urban Cinema|last=Massood|first=Paula J.|page=90|publisher=ABC-CLIO|year=2008|isbn=9780313064081}}

Several of the films depicted African Americans as having a virtually uncontrollable appetite for watermelons; for instance, The Watermelon Contest and Watermelon Feast include scenes of African American men consuming the fruits at such a speed that they spew out mush and seeds. The author Novotny Lawrence suggests that such scenes had a subtext of representing Black male sexuality, in which Black men "love and desire the fruit in the same manner that they love sex... In short, black males have a watermelon 'appetite' and are always trying to see 'who can eat the most' with the strength of this 'appetite' depicted by black males uncontrollably devouring watermelon."{{cite book|title=Blaxploitation Films of the 1970s | isbn=978-0-415-96097-7 | first=Novotny | last=Lawrence | publisher=Routledge | year=2008 | page=37}}

=In music=

African American minstrels sang popular songs such as "The Watermelon Song" and "Oh, Dat Watermelon" in their shows, recorded in print in the 1870s.

In March 1916, Harry C. Browne recorded a song titled "Nigger Love a Watermelon Ha!, Ha! Ha!", set to the tune of the popular folk song "Turkey in the Straw".{{cite web|url=https://www.historyonthenet.com/authentichistory/diversity/african/3-coon/5-chickwatermelon/19160300_Nigger_Love_A_Watermelon-Harry_C_Browne.html|title=Nigger Love a Watermelon Ha! Ha! Ha!|website=History on the Net|access-date=March 30, 2013 }}{{cite web| url=https://www.npr.org/sections/codeswitch/2014/05/11/310708342/recall-that-ice-cream-truck-song-we-have-unpleasant-news-for-you|title=Recall That Ice Cream Truck Song? We Have Unpleasant News For You|website=NPR|first=Theodore R. III|last=Johnson|date=May 11, 2014|access-date=March 18, 2017}} Such songs were popular during that period and many made use of the watermelon stereotype. The script for Gone with the Wind (1939) contained a scene in which Scarlett O'Hara's slave Prissy, played by Butterfly McQueen, eats watermelon, which the actress refused to perform. Use of this stereotype started to die down around the 1950s, and had mostly vanished by 1970, although its continued power as a stereotype could still be recognized in films such as Watermelon Man (1970), The Watermelon Woman (1996), and Bamboozled (2001). Watermelons also provided a theme for many racial jokes in the 2000s.

=Politics=

In 2002, British journalist (and later prime minister) Boris Johnson alluded to "piccaninies" with "watermelon smiles" in a Telegraph article about then-prime minister Tony Blair visiting West Africa, a description widely criticized as racist and out of touch.{{cite news |last1=Johnson |first1=Boris |title=If Blair's so good at running the Congo, let him stay there |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/0/blairs-good-running-congo-let-stay/ |access-date=16 August 2023 |work=The Telegraph |date=10 January 2002}}{{Cite web |last=McTague |first=Tom |date=2021-06-07 |title=The Minister of Chaos |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2021/07/boris-johnson-minister-of-chaos/619010/ |access-date=2023-02-19 |website=The Atlantic |language=en}}{{Cite web |last=Thomas |first=Holly |date=2020-06-11 |title=UK's racism legacy goes deeper than a few statues |url=https://www.cnn.com/2020/06/11/opinions/how-britain-must-face-winston-churchill-and-other-racism-thomas/index.html |access-date=2023-02-19 |website=CNN |language=en}}

Protesters against African Americans frequently hold up watermelons, among other things;{{cite web|url=http://www.cambridge.org/us/books/kiple/cucumbers.htm|title=II.C.6. – Cucumbers, Melons, and Watermelons|work=The Cambridge World History of Food|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130601170952/http://www.cambridge.org/us/books/kiple/cucumbers.htm|archive-date=June 1, 2013|access-date=March 31, 2013}} imagery of Barack Obama consuming watermelon was subject of viral emails circulated by political opponents during the 2008 Obama presidential campaign.{{Cite web |date=2008-10-17 |title=GOP group depicts Obama with watermelon, ribs |url=https://www.deseret.com/2008/10/17/20280782/gop-group-depicts-obama-with-watermelon-ribs |access-date=2022-08-16 |website=Deseret News |language=en}} After his election to the US presidency, watermelon-themed imagery of Obama continued to be created and endorsed. In February 2009, Los Alamitos Mayor Dean Grose resigned (albeit temporarily) after forwarding to the White House an email displaying a picture of the White House lawn planted with watermelons.{{cite news|date=February 26, 2009|access-date=April 13, 2013|first=Mary|last=Mitchell|title=Monkeys, watermelons and black people|newspaper=Chicago Sun-Times|url= http://blogs.suntimes.com/mitchell/2009/02/monkeys_watermelons_and_black.html|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20130429173637/http://blogs.suntimes.com/mitchell/2009/02/monkeys_watermelons_and_black.html|archive-date=April 29, 2013}} Grose said that he was not aware of the watermelon stereotype.{{cite web|website=Huffington Post|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/02/27/mayor-who-sent-obama-wate_n_170492.html |title=Mayor Who Sent Obama Watermelon Email Quits|date=February 27, 2009|access-date=March 30, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130102061214/http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/02/27/mayor-who-sent-obama-wate_n_170492.html|archive-date=January 2, 2013}} Other controversies included a statue of Obama holding a watermelon in Kentucky in 2012{{cite news|website=Huffington Post|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/12/27/danny-hafley-kentucky-obama_n_2372920.html|title=Danny Hafley, Kentucky Man, Defends Watermelon-Eating Obama Display: He 'Might Get Hungry'|first=Nick|last=Wing|date=December 27, 2012|access-date=March 30, 2013}} and a 2014 editorial cartoon in the Boston Herald asking if Obama has tried watermelon-flavored toothpaste.{{cite web|website=CNN |url=http://www.cnn.com/2014/10/01/politics/boston-herald-cartoon/index.html |title=Boston Herald apologizes for Obama cartoon after backlash |first=Ashley|last=Killough|date=October 1, 2014 |access-date=October 2, 2014 }}

21st century usage

At the National Book Awards ceremony in November 2014, author Daniel Handler made a controversial remark after author Jacqueline Woodson was presented with an award for young people's literature. Woodson, who is Black, won the award for Brown Girl Dreaming. During the ceremony, Handler noted that Woodson is allergic to watermelon, a reference to the racist stereotype. His comments were immediately criticized;{{cite news |last=Gambino |first=Lauren |date= 20 November 2014 |title=Lemony Snicket apologizes for watermelon joke about black writer at National Book Awards |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/nov/20/lemony-snicket-apologizes-for-watermelon-joke-about-black-writer-at-national-book-awards |newspaper=The Guardian |access-date=21 November 2014 }}{{cite web|url=http://blogs.forward.com/the-shmooze/209629/lemony-snickets-series-of-unfortunate-racist-jokes/?|title=Lemony Snicket's Series of Unfortunate Racist Jokes|work=The Jewish Daily Forward|last=Cohen|first=Anne|date=November 20, 2014|access-date=30 November 2014}} Handler apologized via Twitter and donated $10,000 to We Need Diverse Books, and promised to match donations up to $100,000.{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/style-blog/wp/2014/11/21/daniel-handler-does-more-than-apologize-for-his-watermelon-joke/?tid=pm_lifestyle_pop|title=Daniel Handler does more than apologize for his 'watermelon' joke|newspaper=The Washington Post|last=Ohlheiser|first=Abby|date=21 November 2014|access-date=30 November 2014}} In a New York Times op-ed published shortly thereafter, "The Pain of the Watermelon Joke", Jacqueline Woodson explained that "in making light of that deep and troubled history" with his joke, Daniel Handler had come from a place of ignorance, but underscored the need for her mission to "give people a sense of this country's brilliant and brutal history, so no one ever thinks they can walk onto a stage one evening and laugh at another's too often painful past".{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/29/opinion/the-pain-of-the-watermelon-joke.html|title=The Pain of the Watermelon Joke|last=Woodson|first=Jacqueline|author-link=Jacqueline Woodson|work=The New York Times|date=28 November 2014|access-date=30 November 2014}}{{cite magazine|url=https://time.com/3610303/jacqueline-woodson-watermelon-racist-joke-lemony-snicket-daniel-handler-national-book-awards/|title=Jacqueline Woodson Responds to Racist Watermelon Joke|magazine=Time|last=Frizell|first=Sam|date=29 November 2014|access-date=30 November 2014}}{{cite web|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/11/29/jacqueline-woodson-racist-joke_n_6240342.html|title=Award-Winning Author Jacqueline Woodson Responds To Racist Joke|work=The Huffington Post|agency=Associated Press|date=29 November 2014|access-date=30 November 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141202221359/http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/11/29/jacqueline-woodson-racist-joke_n_6240342.html|archive-date=2014-12-02}}

On January 7, 2016, Australian cartoonist Chris Roy Taylor published a cartoon of Jamaican cricketer Chris Gayle with a whole watermelon in his mouth.{{Cite web|first=Chris 'ROY'|last=Taylor|date=January 6, 2016|url= http://enews.smedia.com.au/heraldsun/shared/ShowArticle.aspx?doc=NCHRS/2016/01/06&entity=Ar02301&sk=26F9E92B|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160202035731/http://enews.smedia.com.au/heraldsun/shared/ShowArticle.aspx?doc=NCHRS/2016/01/06&entity=Ar02301&sk=26F9E92B|archive-date=February 2, 2016|title=Cartoon|work=Herald Sun|access-date=September 12, 2018}} Gayle had been in the news for making controversial suggestive comments towards a female interviewer during a live broadcast.{{cite news|last1=Eastaugh|first1=Sophie|date=January 6, 2016|title=Chris Gayle: Cricketer fined after telling female reporter, 'Don't blush, baby'|url=https://edition.cnn.com/2016/01/05/sport/chris-gayle-sexism-fined/index.html|access-date=January 6, 2016|website=CNN}} The cartoon depicted a Cricket Australia official asking a boy if he could "borrow" the watermelon, so Gayle would be unable to speak. A couple of days earlier, a video of a boy eating a whole watermelon – rind and all – in the stands of a cricket match had gone viral.{{cite news|first=Ashley|last=Donnelly|date=January 4, 2016|title='Watermelon boy' finds fame with Australia cricket fans|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-australia-35218751|access-date=7 January 2016|work=BBC News}} Taylor said he was unaware of the stereotype, and the cartoon was removed.{{cite web|last1=Taylor|first1=Chris 'ROY'|date=January 6, 2016|title=Thanx @J_CharlesBM yes Living in Australia I had no idea this stereotype even existed As such I have deleted cartoon|url=https://twitter.com/chrisroytaylor/status/684890501896474624|access-date=7 January 2016}}

On October 22, 2017, A segment from the Fox & Friends morning show on the Fox News channel dressed a boy of Latino descent,{{notinsource|date=August 2022}} who was mistaken by many as an African American, in a watermelon Halloween costume, drawing ire on social media.{{cite news|title=Fox & Friends draws ire by dressing up black child as watermelon slice for Halloween|url=https://www.aol.com/article/entertainment/2017/10/22/fox-and-friends-draws-ire-by-dressing-up-black-child-as-watermelon-slice-for-halloween/23251798/|website=AOL.com|date=October 22, 2017}}

During Donald Trump's 2024 presidential election rally at Madison Square Garden, comedian Tony Hinchcliffe made a joke involving black people carving watermelons for Halloween.{{Cite web |last=Kim |first=Soo Rin |last2=Ibssa |first2=Lalee |last3=Walsh |first3=Kelsey |last4=Hensley |first4=Sarah Beth |date=2024-10-28 |title=Racist, crude comments at Trump's Madison Square Garden rally overshadow his 'closing argument' |url=https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/racist-crude-comments-trumps-madison-square-garden-rally/story?id=115213429 |access-date=2024-10-29 |website=ABC News |language=en}}

Gallery

File:Black boy carrying a watermelon lithograph.jpg|Lithograph of a Black boy holding a watermelon, c. 1850–1900

File:African Americans dancing around a pile of watermelons (cropped).jpg|Lithograph of Black people dancing around a pile of watermelons, c. 1900

File:1900sc Postcard-Watermelon 04.jpg|Postcard ("Coon card") from the 1900s

File:1904 Watermelon Coon Card 1.jpg|"Coon card" from 1904

File:I've been disturbing the piece.jpg|"Coon card" from 1910

File:You can plainly see how miserable I am.jpg|"Coon card" from 1911, with the title "You can plainly see how miserable I am"

File:Whar de watermelon grow (NYPL Hades-610141-1256027) (cropped).jpg|"Whar De Watermelon Grow", sheet music of an 1898 minstrel song

File:The coon's trade-mark (NYPL Hades-610007-1255610) (cropped).jpg|"The Coon's Trade-mark: A Watermelon, Razor, Chicken and Coon", sheet music of an 1898 minstrel song. The razor was used for fighting, while fried chicken is also used in stereotypes of African Americans.

File:Picaninny Freeze.jpg|Reproduction of an old tin sign advertising Picaninny Freeze, a frozen treat.

File:Scrub Me Mama watermelon.JPG|A character from the 1941 cartoon Scrub Me Mama with a Boogie Beat enjoying a watermelon.

File:Thomas Hovenden I Know'd It Was Ripe c. 1885.jpg|I Know'd It Was Ripe, c. 1888 by Thomas Hovenden Brooklyn Museum

File:Black Americana Souvenir.jpg

File:Black Americana Souvenir 2.jpg

File:Black Valentine 01a.jpg|Valentine's Day card, c. 1940

File:"Happy little Dahkies" (NBY 8333).jpg

References

External links

{{Commons category-inline|Watermelon stereotype}}

Category:Stereotypes of African Americans

Category:Watermelons

Category:Soul food