Black People : Everyday items illustrate legacy of racism in U.S.

[Destee]

Dawn Spears knows that if she didn't have the artifacts to prove it, people simply would not believe that Milton Bradley, makers of Scrabble, also had a bowling game called ``Darkie Five Pins,'' or that Kiwi shoe polish once carried a notorious racial slur on some cans to describe a shade of brown.

Spears, 50, a voracious collector of black memorabilia, has amassed 1,500 historic pieces that center on America's most racist depictions, and how they were used routinely at one time to market everything from soap and tobacco to golf tees.

About six times a year, she takes dozens of her derogatory images to schools to show students what they will never find in their history books: a shooting gallery game with toy rifle and caricatures of black children as targets; or matches and menus from the Coon Chicken Inn, a restaurant in the Pacific Northwest where patrons entered through the wide grin of a cartoon black face.

Great article! You can read it all here.

Much Love to Sister Dawn Spears!



Destee

 

[watzinaname]

Thanks for providing this information, Destee. As sad as it is, that collection is proof of what was and unfortunately sometimes still is.

 

[$$RICH$$]

so true as a collector i havve items that labled black in the
racism and racial slurs format by some of the companies
we seem to shop in daily