That southern hospitality
Life magazine, 1925
Racism doesn’t align with hospitality, yet southern hospitality perpetuated racism. Life Magazine’s cartoon That Southern Hospitality, released in 1925, depicts southern hospitality in an eye opening way. The cartoon’s image is composed of two white men, and a black man. The white men appear to be wealthy plantation owners, and the black man is clearly one of the men’s slaves. The white men are looking out the window of a bedroom, one telling the other “I have given you , sah, the guest chamber overlooking where the mint bed used to be!”. While the host shows off the view, the slave, positioned in the back of the image, prepares the room for the guest. From the first glance the irony of the cartoon is obvious, but the caption hammers home the message. While the host is bragging about the guest room’s view, the slave is working hard to accommodate the guest. The Life Magazine cartoon demonstrates the irony of, and the inequality perpetuated by, southern hospitality at the time.