History, RACISM
Black Babies Used as Alligator Bait in the U.S.
The infamous story that has been haunting the U.S. since the 19th century
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Whenever I read stories related to racial discrimination for people of color in history, I am still astounded by how evil humans can be. One of the worst stories I have researched was the alligator hunting in the United States, wherein white Americans used black babies as bait.
The story varies, though, but some reports were too horrible to digest. And the most appalling reality, it was even promoted and condoned in the Southern states of the country.
News articles about black babies as live bait
The utilization of black babies as live bait for alligator hunting became a form of debate in the U.S. Some argued that these incidents did not happen. However, several news articles about the gruesome activity were written in the 19th and 20th centuries.
These reports were still being explored up to this day. According to some accounts, the alligator and crocodile hunting became rampant in the latter part of the 1800s and early 1900s because the reptiles’ skin was produced into belts, shoes, and bags. Therefore, hunting the market’s demand for such raw material increased.
Washington Times
On June 3, 1908, the Washington Times wrote an article titled: “Baits Alligators with Pickaninnies.” The word “pickaninny” pertains to a black child. The news sub-headline continues as “Zoo Specimens Coaxed to Summer Quarters by Plump Little Africans.”
The news was about a zookeeper at New York Zoological Gardens’ who sent two black children into a paddock with over 25 crocodiles and alligators. The children were chased by the hungry reptiles, entertaining zoo patrons while leading the alligators and crocodiles out of the reptile house, into a tank where they could be viewed in the summer.
“Their eagerly eyes fixed on two plump pickaninnies, the crocodiles and alligators in New York…
