Judge — June 3, 1893 — page 8: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

This cartoon satirizes racial discrimination in American education. "Judge" (depicted as a stern authority figure) addresses "Miss Columbia" (personification of America) about admitting "that boy"—likely referring to a Black student—into her school. The caricatured figures surrounding them appear to represent various prejudiced groups or political opponents of integration, depicted with exaggerated racial stereotypes typical of this era's offensive visual language. The cartoon's title, "BE JUST—EVEN," suggests irony: Judge is critiquing Columbia for allowing integrated education while the surrounding hostile figures oppose it. The satire targets hypocrisy around American ideals of justice and equality versus actual discriminatory practices in schools. The scattered papers and globe reference civics education and national values being undermined by racial exclusion policies.