Life — May 28, 1914 — page 27: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

This satirical cartoon critiques the **Kentucky Colonels' Club**, an exclusive social organization. The image depicts a long line of formally-dressed figures in top hats (representing club members) standing alongside what appears to be a tropical or Southern landscape, while several Black figures are shown running or being excluded from the group. The satire targets the club's exclusionary membership practices, likely its racial discrimination. The title's rhetorical question—"Clubs We Do Not Care to Join?"—is ironic; it suggests that excluded individuals wouldn't want membership anyway, when the real message is that such clubs actively barred non-white members. This reflects early-20th-century Life magazine's progressive stance against racial segregation in exclusive institutions.