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4Waters

4Waters

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Kachina26

Kachina26

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SoCalDave said:
😲

View attachment 891754

This one's for the "Slavery was 200 years ago get over it" Americans. This is from a 1942 brochure for a summer camp for children. Your parents/grandparents were probably kids at the time.

"Hit the Nigger" or "African Dodger" was one of the most popular attractions at carnivals and fairs across the country up until the 1950s. White people would pay 10 cents a try to throw baseballs at a black person's head which protruded from a hole in a canvas sheet they stood or sat behind. Those who hit the black person in the head or face won a prize. Many references in newspaper articles from the early-to-mid 20th century can be found mentioning the severe injuries or deaths resulting from this grotesque practice.

Finally in the mid 1950s carnivals were forced to tame down the barbaric game and it was replaced with "African Dipper," where people would throw a baseball at a target that, when hit, would dump a black person in a large pool of water. This was the predecessor to the dunk tanks we see at carnivals today.
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Why is this in the FB thread?
 
Taboma

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SoCalDave said:
Now that I think about it good question...that's what happens when I try and multitask.
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Right thread or not, I did find that interesting and followed up with a bit more research.
Born in 48' and having had so many relatives in Long Beach, I spent a good amount of time at the LB Pike in the 50's. This was something I'd never heard of, so was obviously curious.
Interesting how they ran ads to recruit and hire blacks to participate in this game of chance. If the target was talented at dodging, there was some $$ to be made, I mean pennies by today's standards, but money none the less. So this wasn't like chain the negro to the hole and toss away, they could dodge it if quick enough. Apparently there was a few notable cases of serious injury and even death mostly in the early 1900s. Some brought their own heavy balls, so apparently the balls provided in the game were not your normal hard ball.
Seems on a few occasions real baseball pitchers and or players showed up and pummeled the poor man target. No doubt, especially in certain areas, racism was very much alive and well.

Of course let's keep in mind, in those days a lot of types of employment opportunities were extremely dangerous, so serious injury and death to make a few bucks wasn't limited to African Dodger (Hit the nigger baby).

Suddenly I feel so ashamed being white, well no the fuck I don't, not even a little. ;)
 
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