 A postcard showing an African-American girl eating a large watermelon. Image by Credited to the Ullman MFQ, New York, via Wikimedia Commons. Licensed Public domain |
Gayle HanessWatermelon stereotype Watermelon stereotype Racist stereotype of African American people Not to be confused with Watermelon (Palestinian symbol). 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… (Source: Wikipedia)
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