Illustration "Greatest Ventriloquist Act of the Century"

Illustration "Greatest Ventriloquist Act of the Century"

This cartoon shows a white ventriloquist agreeing to his sentiment of, "We were all mighty happy until we were interfered with... Weren't we?" with a blackface-wearing ventriloquist's dummy. This refers to forced integration that occurred in public schools during the Civil Rights Movement. As the ventriloquist act occurs, the white man is suffocating a bound black man who represents "over 10,000,000 Negro U.S. 'citizens.'" This illustration is captioned as "the editorial voice of this issue" and urges the Board of Trustees to "continue action on this problem vital to our University."

Hamm, Jack. "Greatest Ventriloquist Act of the Century." The Messenger (1964): 38. University Archives, RG 24 Student Publications. Virginia Baptist Historical Society, Richmond, Virginia.

The Messenger, University of Richmond

1964

English

Messenger1964.38-1964.JPG

Richmond (Va).