Blacks as Targets

Carnival games in the 19th and early 20th centuries highlighted and exploited white people s hostility toward blacks. Presenting African Americans as willing victims of white aggression made the violence seem normal and legitimate. Games like The African Dodger, also known as Hit the Nigger Baby or Hit the Coon, which used actual human targets, were commonplace in local fairs, carnivals, and circuses. Sometimes a picture or model of an African American was used instead, but the message was clear unprovok