The Columbian Exposition, a 6 month long World Fair was held in Chicago to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus' arrival in the "New" World. DeJure Segregation was the practice of the fair which was totally white (except for the custodians).
There was one racist day in August that was designated as "Colored People's Day".
There were many black people at the fair and like Native Americans, they were on display.
In a series of exhibits to illustrate Frederick Jackson Turner's "Frontier Thesis" (see previous post),
Black Americans were displayed as inhabitants of African villages, former slaves, sharecroppers, etc. in order to show the evolution from savagery to "civilization".
Frederick Douglass' responded, "to shame the Negro, they exhibit the Negro as a repulsive savage."
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Not much different than how the Black community is regularly displayed on the evening news or discussed as a pathological problem by politicians...progress?
