Is this racist?
Posted: February 6th, 2009 | Author: admin | Filed under: Fabric | 1 Comment »I found this tablecloth at a used goods store the other day and got it for free because it was stained and I was buying overpriced craft books. I brought it home and was told that it was racist. Is it from the deep South? Does anyone know what kind of art this is called? Would it still be racist if I was black?
I have a doll I inherited from my Great Aunt that would go with this. It’s from the 1930’s. It’s a cloth doll that you can flip over and another doll is underneath. One doll is a “southern belle” – big full flouncy skirt, blond wool braids, big painted blue eyes and a frilly bonnet. Flip it over and the other side can best be described as a “Mammy”… looks strikingly like the old Aunt Jemima pancake mix illustrations from the ’60’s. Its a black woman in a big patchwork dress, kerchief tied around her head, hoop earrings, big apron.
I have it tucked away in a cedar chest. I have the same dilemma… don’t want to have it out but just can’t part with it.