Comments on: 1864 “Miscegenation Ball” Anti-Lincoln Cartoon

By: Ed

Ed — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 08:57:42 +0000

“It’s interesting that all the couples feature White men and Black women. Usually opponents to abolition or desegretation depicted White women with Black men, sometimes voluntarily, other times showing Black men as sexually aggressive predators who threaten White women’s virtue.”

The situation is more complex. Abolitionists commonly used the ‘threat’ of miscegenation on slaving plantations (between male slaver and female slave) as a key argument against the practice of slavery.

By: Ed

Ed — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 15:18:11 +0000

This situation is more complex. Abolitionists at the time used the ‘threat’ of miscegenation on slaving plantations (between male slaver and female slave) as a key argument against the practice of slavery.

By: Sue

Sue — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 16:44:44 +0000

The photo is too small and I’m not sufficiently familiar with 19th Century caricature style to make a judgment on how the women are depicted. They aren’t “grotesque,” but some of the poses are pretty sexual.

By: Noni

Noni — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 07:17:21 +0000

Oh god, the term “mystical Negro” has been around for quite awhile, hasn’t it?

By: Nataly

Nataly — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 01:50:25 +0000

Jennifer, many people consider obesity to automatically render a person ugly. Or at least a woman.

By: Louche

Louche — Sun, 02 Aug 2009 20:34:23 +0000

Carl, you bring up a good point, but I don’t think the issue would be having white women in power so much as having no white men (and all black men) in power. Lincoln was obviously a white man, and so was every other elected official at the time.

By: Jennifer

Jennifer — Sun, 02 Aug 2009 17:34:08 +0000

Obese, sure, but I’m not certain how Nia can discern their apparent ugliness. The faces are way too small for me to see anything other than color and a general outline.

By: Nia

Nia — Sun, 02 Aug 2009 17:12:59 +0000

I’d add that this quite attractive black women are obese and ugly by today’s standards.

By: Carl

Carl — Sun, 02 Aug 2009 15:38:23 +0000

I assume that cartoon depicts white men dancing with black women (rather than the “more frightening” combination of black men dancing with white women) because the ball is supposed to take place in Lincoln Headquarters. The ad would be less believable to 19th-century audiences if it depicted a bunch of politically-engaged women employed in the halls of power.