It appears that the pernicious layer of racism applied to watermelon theft in the South (and elsewhere, I’m sure) was in good part a deplorable addition to the already venerable and much broader cultural and folkloric themes of filching the bounty of someone else’s land, whether as a fish/game poacher or as an orchard/garden raider. For one example, the idea is everywhere, in compelling variety, in literature: John Buchan’s John McNab, Tolkien’s young hobbits in farmer Maggot’s mushrooms, Beatrix Potter’s bunnies in farmer McGregor’s garden, and Dorothy and the Scarecrow among the apple trees all come instantly to mind. That particular thievery trope seems ancient. Part of its appeal to historians is that in a fascinating number of instances (think six centuries of Robin Hood) the perpetrator is portrayed sympathetically if not heroically--and often but not always as something of a class warrior. If such sympathies survived the overlay of racism in the rise of the watermelon/African-American theme, they seem only have been of the most condescending sort.

Paul Schullery
Scholar-in-residence
Montana State University Library
Bozeman

> On Nov 25, 2018, at 9:43 AM, William Robison <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> 
> I am happy to report that among my students both racism and homophobia are
> disappearing. But when I was growing up, both the watermelon trope and the
> racist notion that African-Americans are thieves were alive and well. Damn
> near everyone in the South eats watermelon, regardless of gender,
> ethnicity, political persuasion, religious ideology, or sexual orientation.
> So where the trope came from is a mystery to me. But then so is the one
> about thievery.
> 
> On Sun, Nov 25, 2018 at 10:26 AM Hal Bush <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> 
>> I'd mention that  it's interesting that Huck Finn "borrowed" melons too;
>> and that the cultural history of the watermelon trope is associated with
>> Jim Crow long before 1901:
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> https://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2014/12/how-watermelons-became-a-racist-trope/383529/
>> 
>> [
>> https://cdn.theatlantic.com/assets/media/img/mt/2018/01/lead_large-4/facebook.jpg?1522683760
>> ]<
>> https://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2014/12/how-watermelons-became-a-racist-trope/383529/
>>> 
>> 
>> How Watermelons Became a Racist Trope - The Atlantic<
>> https://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2014/12/how-watermelons-became-a-racist-trope/383529/
>>> 
>> www.theatlantic.com
>> While mainstream-media figures deride these instances of racism, or at
>> least racial insensitivity, another conversation takes place on Twitter
>> feeds and comment boards: What, many ask, does a ...
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> Dr. Hal Bush
>> 
>> Dept. of English
>> 
>> Saint Louis University
>> 
>> [log in to unmask]
>> 
>> 314-977-3616
>> 
>> http://halbush.com
>> 
>> author website:  halbush.com
>> 
>> ________________________________
>> From: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]> on behalf of James N. Powell <
>> [log in to unmask]>
>> Sent: Sunday, November 25, 2018 10:11:37 AM
>> To: [log in to unmask]
>> Subject: Re: Clemens and persistent racism?
>> 
>> 我園の真桑も盗むこころ哉
>> wagasono no makuwa mo nusumu kokoro kana
>> 
>> Even in my own field,
>> I pick a melon
>> As if stealing.
>> 
>>                ~ Buson
>> 
>> Tr. Shoji Kumano
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]> On Behalf Of Dave Davis
>> Sent: Sunday, November 25, 2018 7:08 AM
>> To: [log in to unmask]
>> Subject: Re: Clemens and persistent racism?
>> 
>> Wiser heads will know more, but that sounds to me more like the voice of
>> Paine than the voice of Twain. Are the narratives quoted found in the
>> Autobiography (the full dictations, which have recently been published)?
>> 
>> DDD
>> 
>> 
>> https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__ebooks.adelaide.edu.au_t_twain_mark_paine_chapter214.html&d=DwIFaQ&c=Pk_HpaIpE_jAoEC9PLIWoQ&r=f7i-Uq4rMQU8-TBe45qVLg&m=O_q9Ul57LFXCfZatvQF5i636yefdbwZVbEeDnYRjwKI&s=iWIHIGKB2n7u8ZpXmsJ12yGKqCfSHnjHKZA48VN6WzQ&e=
>> 
>> 
>> On Sat, Nov 24, 2018 at 6:14 PM John Greenman <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>> 
>>> from “the watermelons” (which Paine quotes in chapter CCXIV. MARK
>>> TWAIN AND THE MISSIONARIES in his Biography) Clemens says:
>>> “...This was down South, in the slavery days. It was the nature of the
>>> negro then, as now, to steal watermelons…."
>>> 
>>> Question: have y’all concluded that this 1901 concept accurately
>>> reflects Clemens’ racial feelings are was there some other reason for
>> his wording??
>>> 
>>> thanks,
>>> 
>>> -j
>>> 
>>> +++++++++++++++
>>> Coincidence is a messenger
>>> sent by Truth
>>> 
>>> [log in to unmask]
>>> 
>>> Mark Twain Audiobooks from Librivox
>>> 
>>> My Mark Twain audio recordings at Archive.org
>>> 
>> 
> 
> 
> -- 
> William B. Robison, PhD
> Department Head / Professor of History
> Department of History and Political Science
> Southeastern Louisiana University
> SLU 10895
> Hammond LA 70402
> 985-549-2109 phone
> 985-549-2012 fax
> [log in to unmask]
> http://www.selu.edu/acad_research/depts/hist_ps/index.html
> http://www.tudorsonfilm.com/
> http://www.impairedfaculties.com/
> 
> History teaches students to read intelligently, think analytically, write
> clearly, accurately assess past trends, rationally predict future
> developments, and understand the real world. Now *that* is workforce-ready!
> 
> History does offer us very real lessons, but they are seldom simple and
> straightforward. To understand and benefit from them, you have to know your
> history very well. That is why history matters as much as math, science,
> technology, or any other subject.
> 
> "A young horse is fast, but an old horse knows what's going on." – Muddy
> Waters