1931 RACIST JOKES IN CATHOLIC BROCHURE FOR “COLORED MISSIONS”

This 1931 large pamphlet is from “The Catholic Board for Mission Work Among the Colored People” and is titled “OUR COLORED MISSIONS” with the subtitle “JESUS DIED FOR ALL”.  It pictures a white Jesus holding a black child.  The section “Negro Laughs” (see photo) perpetuates the stereotype of the ignorant African-American who cannot speak well nor reason well (hence the butt of every joke).  To the credit of the brochure is a section titled “Gleanings” (see photo) where the publication acknowledges “Humility and kindness are lovable virtues among the colored race; therefore they are surely much loved by Jesus Christ…Civilization is far older than the science of anthropology, and in the olden days it was not considered necessary to weigh the brain of the individual in order to find whether he merited equality of opportunity.  Anthropology has now as its chief reason for existing the lamentable fact that it furnishes a justification for the exploitation of the darker races.–J.A. Rogers