A drunken Irish maid slips and falls. A greedy Jewish pawnbroker
lures his female employee into prostitution. An African American
man leers at a white woman. These and other, similar images
appeared widely on stages and screens across America during the
early twentieth century. In this provocative study, M. Alison
Kibler uncovers, for the first time, powerful and concurrent
campaigns by Irish, Jewish and African Americans against racial
ridicule in popular culture at the turn of the twentieth century.
Censoring Racial Ridicule explores how Irish, Jewish, and
African American groups of the era resisted harmful representations
in popular culture by lobbying behind the scenes, boycotting
particular acts, and staging theater riots. Kibler demonstrates
that these groups' tactics evolved and diverged over time, with
some continuing to pursue street protest while others sought
redress through new censorship laws.
Exploring the relationship between free expression, democracy, and
equality in America, Kibler shows that the Irish, Jewish, and
African American campaigns against racial ridicule are at the roots
of contemporary debates over hate speech.