Introduction For a short period following the emancipation of African American slaves in the South, former slaves sold watermelons as a means to make a living outside the confines of bondage (Black, 65). However, this new symbol of freedom was perceived as a threat to the existing white power structure in the South, and was subsequently racialized and turned into a derogatory stereotype (Black, 65). To this day this cruel association persists and is widely misunderstood. My story map will explore the evolution of how and why watermelons became a racial trope towards African Americans, tracing its origins from the post-emancipation era to the Jim Crow era, ending with analysis of its legacy in a modern world. This evolution will show that watermelon, which initially symbolized freedom and self-sufficiency for African Americans during the Post-Emancipation period, was transformed into a racial stereotype by the white power structure as a means to undermine and ridicule African American’s economic independence, subsequently replacing a means a freedom into a tool of oppression.

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