African Americans have made extraordinary contributions to the history and culture of the United States as part of the nation and apart from it. This month, Auction Finds presents “28 days (Plus 1)” of this collaborative history. The additional day is intended to break Black history out of the stricture of a month into its rightful place as an equal partner in the history of America. Each day, I will offer artifacts culled from the auction tables and my research, along with the stories they hold.
Feb. 15, 2022
A different take on Black boy-with-watermelon stereotype
Artist Sam Benson had taken the Black child with watermelon image and given it a different twist. He painted a Black boy gleeful over eating a watermelon – without the stereotypical trappings. This was a little boy whose eyes sparkled as he focused on the slice, which was so large that it took up half of the canvas and covered what I’m sure was a big smile.
The artist drew him as a cutie, not as a caricature, and the watermelon was food, not an extension of who he was. It’s a stereotype that won’t die in a land that remains divided by race. Even America’s first black president was not immune: A cartoon in the Boston Herald newspaper in 2014 showed a bather who had broken into the White House asking President Obama if he’d ever tried watermelon-flavored toothpaste.
As for the artist of this painting, I wondered what he was thinking in creating it. Benson is from Chester, PA. Read the full story.
