The origin of the stereotype of black people eating watermelons has been lost. Some people say that watermelon was first grown in Africa and then imported to the USA along with the slaves. Others say that the watermelon provided a clean source of water for the slaves when they were working in the hot fields. In any event, watermelon became associated with America's black slaves--and ultimately became a stereotype, most offensively as a wonderfully happy black boy in ragged clothes and straw hat eating a slice of watermelon.
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