Judge, 1904-06-11 · page 16 of 16
Judge — June 11, 1904 — page 16: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page satirizes African American church governance through racist caricature and dialect. The cartoon depicts a church meeting where a treasurer objects to funding a planned supper on grounds of expense. When the chairman mentions the menu—watermelon, fried chicken, possum, and potatoes—the treasurer immediately withdraws his objection and moves to spend all available funds. The satire relies on dehumanizing racial stereotypes: exaggerated dialect spelling ("Breddren," "terward"), depiction of Black men as motivated primarily by stereotypical "soul food," and the implication that financial responsibility dissolves when such foods are mentioned. The cartoon mocks Black church organizations as frivolous and easily distracted. This reflects late-19th/early-20th-century white American prejudice, presenting racist caricatures as humor for Judge's white readership.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
comicbooks.com Thou wiTH DE SEXTON For Sare KEEPING ‘ | LEAVE YOUR RAZORS \ a4 SHALT =e NOT: VOTED TO A MAN. coor—"* Breddren, dere has bin filed by de chairman ob de committee an objection to a suppah heah nex’ Tuesday ebenin’ on de groun’s ob expense. | had neglected ter say dat 's fo dat suppah contains watahmelon, br'iled chicken, roast ‘possum, wid gravy, brown pertaters, an’ ‘'—— Mr. Droots (hastily rising)—" P rman ob de committee, | widdraws de objection on file, an’ moves dat de treasurer appropriates all money on hand, an’ all he kin git, terward de fulfillment ob so worthy an affair.”