Black people in zoos?

Question

Don't worry this question isn't as racist as it might look.

I remember my gran telling me something totally crazy once..

She said that the first time she ever saw a black person was when she was in Germany before the second world war. Along with the elephants, giraffes etc were several families of black people that lived in the zoo in huts as an exhibit. At the time she thought nothing of it because she was young and living in nazis Germany (she was half Jewish and escaped to Britain before the war).

Just wondering if anyone else has heard of this before?

My gran said that from what she could remember they were very small and looked like Pygmys. I don't think they went home at the end of the day, I think that was their home.

I found something interesting about a Pygmy called Ota Benga who actually live in Bronx zoo in New York in the primate house in the early 1900s.

and seriously, it wasn't racism on my grans part. She didn't think anything of it at the time because she was a child and no one had told her it was wrong. Being a Jew who was chased out of Germany and had her parents killed by the nazis she knows all too well about racism.

oh and also I just have to say that it's not a racist question on my part either.

I hate racism but I'm interested to find out if what my gran told me was quite common back then.

Answer 1

its very sad and very true
i am black and i have read and heard about it
Africans were taken by early Europeans and shown in private exhibits,zoos and circuses
your gran was not lying
the world was a mysterious place and the people were ignorant and very sadistic
i hope the links below help to answer your question

Answer 2

I am Black and have never heard of this. However, that having been said, Germany during that period was unfortunately practicing a lot of things that were racially/ethnically motivated [in pursuit of cleansing the race] Perhaps in a small village this may have been actually happened as Blacks were hated almost as much as Jews by certain segments of the German population.

BTW - did you know that in these United States, persons with physical disabilities were often seen caged up in traveling carnivals throughout the US? Unfortunately these poor souls could only 'earn' board and room by being a sideshow horror.

I point this out only to show how depending on the 'times' people everywhere can be terribly cruel to those they fear or who are different.

Answer 3

I have heard of something like this. The people were actually Africans that were elephant trainers. They kinda came with the elephants. I don't know how much of that is true, but from what I could tell they didn't actually live there. They were just another form of zookeeper.

Answer 4

If it happened like she remembers they probably didn't really live there. They worked there and went home at the end of the day like everybody else. Kind of like when you go to a colonial village type exhibit in a tourist town and there are people dressed in period costumes.
Kind of like when I was a kid I worked at a country music themed amusement park and I dressed all day like a country bumpkin, but at the end of the day I was anything but...
Peace

Answer 5

this is well documented and another cruel display of how the white man perceived the black people. back then the absolutely believed blacks were at a lower stage of evolutionary development. it was cruel and they must pay. it happened and would be happening today except for some scientists who reported those attitudes were false. the ape relationship is true for whites and blacks genetics have proven. so what?

Answer 6

I went to a zoo once in USA, and there were white ppl all around . And they weren't even in cages. Talk about living dangerously. Luckily i got out unhurt though.

Answer 7

I have never heard of any African Americans living in huts at a zoo during that era & your question is more racist than you think.

Answer 8

i haven't heard of this, but since it happened in Germany and at that time, i think it might be true

i don't think it's a racist question

Answer 9

Hey...at least we don't look like animals. You guys should really get your noses or should I say beaks fixed!

P.S. My answer isn't as racist as it may seem!

Answer 10

There use to be "cage people" that lived in cages in Hong Kong. I don't think they were black though.