# Early 19th century comic strip character "The Yellow Kid" a racist portrayal of Asians... What? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 27, 2015, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/early-19th-century-comic-strip-character-the-yellow-kid-a-racist-portrayal-of-asians-what/723590 "2015-06-27T02:06:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![drad\_dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@drad\_dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drad_dog)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2015, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/early-19th-century-comic-strip-character-the-yellow-kid-a-racist-portrayal-of-asians-what/723590/21 "2015-06-27T17:46:17Z")
Interesting. He is “mongoloid” in look. I’m fairly sure that he was perceived as asian, after the strip ended and it entered into history, and lost the specific context. The kind of research possible now into cartoons wasn’t possible before. That it needed to be done says something. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2015, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/early-19th-century-comic-strip-character-the-yellow-kid-a-racist-portrayal-of-asians-what/723590/22 "2015-06-27T17:49:42Z")
> [@drad\_dog](#): > > Interesting. He is “mongoloid” in look. I’m fairly sure that he was perceived as asian, after the strip ended and it entered into history, and lost the specific context. The kind of research possible now into cartoons wasn’t possible before. That it needed to be done says something. And that someone in the industry parading around pretending to be a 10-list expert couldn’t bother says quite a bit more. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2015, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/early-19th-century-comic-strip-character-the-yellow-kid-a-racist-portrayal-of-asians-what/723590/23 "2015-06-27T17:57:48Z")
> [@drad\_dog](#): > > Interesting. He is “mongoloid” in look. I’m fairly sure that he was perceived as asian, after the strip ended and it entered into history, and lost the specific context. The kind of research possible now into cartoons wasn’t possible before. That it needed to be done says something. This is nonsense. He doesn’t appear to be a so called “Mongoloid,” now known as Down Syndrome. People with Down Syndrome often have [epicanthal folds (the origin of the term) and small flat ears](http://www.globaldownsyndrome.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/Taylor-219x219.jpg). The Kid has tiny very round eyes and projecting ears. As far as I know, he was never perceived as Asian until the article linked to in the OP. If you have a cite for this, please produce it. It didn’t “need to be done,” because quite frankly it’s stupid. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2015, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/early-19th-century-comic-strip-character-the-yellow-kid-a-racist-portrayal-of-asians-what/723590/24 "2015-06-27T18:02:43Z")
> [@drad\_dog](#): > > The kind of research possible now into cartoons wasn’t possible before. I’m not entirely certain what this means. What kind of research, specifically into cartoons, is available now that wasn’t available before? ---
**Author:** ![Cayuga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3e96dc/32.png) [@Cayuga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cayuga)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2015, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/early-19th-century-comic-strip-character-the-yellow-kid-a-racist-portrayal-of-asians-what/723590/25 "2015-06-27T18:13:55Z")
> [@drad\_dog](#): > > Interesting. He is “mongoloid” in look. I’m fairly sure that he was perceived as asian, after the strip ended and it entered into history, and lost the specific context. The kind of research possible now into cartoons wasn’t possible before. That it needed to be done says something. I’d never heard or read anything that indicated that anyone thought he was Asian, until the article linked in the OP. ---
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2015, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/early-19th-century-comic-strip-character-the-yellow-kid-a-racist-portrayal-of-asians-what/723590/26 "2015-06-27T18:29:50Z")
(Psst…\*late \*19th century. Early 19th century is as factually inaccurate as saying the Yellow Kid was Asian.) ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2015, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/early-19th-century-comic-strip-character-the-yellow-kid-a-racist-portrayal-of-asians-what/723590/27 "2015-06-27T18:40:01Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > I’m not entirely certain what this means. What kind of research, specifically into cartoons, is available now that wasn’t available before? In any case, it appears that Campbell’s research methodology belongs to the time-honored tradition of “making shit up.” ---
**Author:** ![drad\_dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@drad\_dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drad_dog)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2015, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/early-19th-century-comic-strip-character-the-yellow-kid-a-racist-portrayal-of-asians-what/723590/28 "2015-06-27T19:03:12Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > I’m not entirely certain what this means. What kind of research, specifically into cartoons, is available now that wasn’t available before? You can research this and find a specific cartoon now, share it with the world, from your desktop. Remember when you couldn’t do that? It wasn’t that long ago. I have no idea how many would’ve thought he was asian, and how many even knew of his existence. I thought so. I’m sure it isn’t nonsense. Nothing to get vinegared up about. If you ever watched Mr Magoo, or Dick Tracy cartoons then you know we are in different times and different assumptions are made, and racial caricatures were as common as dirt. A cartoon isn’t a scholarly work. It is something that “appears to be something” as it’s sole reason for existence. When it stops its public life contexts get lost and it might appear to be something else. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2015, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/early-19th-century-comic-strip-character-the-yellow-kid-a-racist-portrayal-of-asians-what/723590/29 "2015-06-27T19:14:22Z")
As even Dr. Seuss could turn out a [horribly racist cartoon](http://www.tofugu.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/signal-from-home.gif)… which is, fortunately, almost unique even among his wartime political cartoons. He drew quite a few stereotyped/racist images of Tojo and the emperor, but this is, IIRC, the only generic slap at Japanese. It’s a doozy, though. Point being that most of Geisel’s wartime cartoons were forgotten until about ten years ago. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2015, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/early-19th-century-comic-strip-character-the-yellow-kid-a-racist-portrayal-of-asians-what/723590/30 "2015-06-27T19:38:35Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > This is nonsense. He doesn’t appear to be a so called “Mongoloid,” now known as Down Syndrome. You’re going the wrong direction. [Mongoloid](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mongoloid), as used by **drad dog** , refers to people from the continent of Asia. Other classifications are Caucasoid, Negroid, Australoid, Capoid, and Amerind. People with Down Syndrome were called ‘mongoloid’ because their facial features were said to resemble those of peoples Johann Friedrich Blumenbach classified as Mongoloid. ---
**Author:** ![drad\_dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@drad\_dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drad_dog)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2015, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/early-19th-century-comic-strip-character-the-yellow-kid-a-racist-portrayal-of-asians-what/723590/31 "2015-06-27T19:41:24Z")
When I was a kid I went with some other kiddies to the local library to see “Song of the South” I would have tried to pay closer attention if I knew I wan’t going to ever see it again. I’m not that old. If you’ve seen Chollie say “Missa MaGlooo!” as normal TV for kids you might think the Yellow Kid was Asian. He was very close in appearance. I can see that if you don’t remember not being able to disprove things by looking at the net, and don’t remember racial stereotypes for kids, then you might think something other than what I thought. But that’s just diversity. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2015, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/early-19th-century-comic-strip-character-the-yellow-kid-a-racist-portrayal-of-asians-what/723590/32 "2015-06-27T19:59:22Z")
> [@drad\_dog](#): > > You can research this and find a specific cartoon now, share it with the world, from your desktop. Remember when you couldn’t do that? It wasn’t that long ago. Okay, sure, there’s greater accessibility to this stuff, but that’s not “new research.” There’s nothing known today about the Yellow Kid that wasn’t known twenty years ago, it’s just easier to get at, is all. Not sure how that’s relevant to the discussion, except in as much as it makes T. Campbell’s gaffe even more embarrassing, as the information about the character’s creation, how he was viewed at the time, how he’s viewed today, and what the contemporary racial stereotypes looked like were easily available to him, and all of which point overwhelmingly to the conclusion that the Yellow Kid was meant to be white, working class Irish. > [@](#): > > If you ever watched Mr Magoo, or Dick Tracy cartoons then you know we are in different times and different assumptions are made, and racial caricatures were as common as dirt. A cartoon isn’t a scholarly work. It is something that “appears to be something” as it’s sole reason for existence. When it stops its public life contexts get lost and it might appear to be something else. A cartoon isn’t a scholarly work, but there’s plenty of scholarly works about cartoons out there, and about _this_ cartoon in particular. For someone not particularly invested in comics and their history, it’s understandable that someone might mistake the Yellow Kid as an Asian caricature. For someone who is a professional cartoonist, who’s putting out (pseud-)journalistic articles about cartoons, that’s _major_ lapse. This information is, as you pointed out, not hard to find, and it’s clear that Campbell didn’t invest any time in actual research, beyond Googling a few images. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2015, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/early-19th-century-comic-strip-character-the-yellow-kid-a-racist-portrayal-of-asians-what/723590/33 "2015-06-27T20:09:04Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > [Mongoloid](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mongoloid), as used by **drad dog** , refers to people from the continent of Asia. I don’t think so. I think **drad dog** was referring to the Yellow Kid’s idiotic appearance (later adopted for Alfred E. Neuman). (And I’m well aware of the racial classifications, as well as Down’s use of the term in his [classification scheme for idiots](http://www.nature.com/scitable/content/Observations-on-an-ethnic-classification-of-idiots-16179), which included not only “Mongoloid idiots” but Ethiopian, Malay, and American Indian types. “Mongoloid” was still in regular use in this sense up until the 1960s or 1970s.) > [@drad\_dog](#): > > If you’ve seen Chollie say “Missa MaGlooo!” as normal TV for kids you might think the Yellow Kid was Asian. He was very close in appearance. [Charlie](http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-2xw6FIrJ7Fs/TqrxqfpkaWI/AAAAAAAAAkk/rBHNtLAQgIs/s1600/cholly.jpg) from Mr. Magoo doesn’t look the least like the Yellow Kid. Charlie, in his appearance and speech, actually has the Asian stereotypes that are lacking in the Yellow Kid. In particular, Charlie has slanted eyes, a queue, and small ears, and interchanges “r” and “l.” ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2015, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/early-19th-century-comic-strip-character-the-yellow-kid-a-racist-portrayal-of-asians-what/723590/34 "2015-06-27T20:11:17Z")
Sure, it’s far easier to find certain cartoons today than ever before. At the same time, the book I cited came out in 1968. The comments there now include a link to the actual strip I cited. It’s from a - stop the presses - book about the Yellow Kid. The sort of thing you’d expect a cartoon historian to be aware of, if not have. The saga of the two Yellow Kids is a standard piece of every history of comics. That he was Irish is a standard piece of every history of comics. Like everybody else here I never ever heard anyone refer to him as Asian. That’s staggeringly wrong. Always double-check everything you put up on the Internet, especially clickbait. I’ve found a zillion times that something I knew for sure was in fact wrong. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2015, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/early-19th-century-comic-strip-character-the-yellow-kid-a-racist-portrayal-of-asians-what/723590/35 "2015-06-27T21:09:42Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > The saga of the two Yellow Kids is a standard piece of every history of comics. That he was Irish is a standard piece of every history of comics. Like everybody else here I never ever heard anyone refer to him as Asian. That’s staggeringly wrong. It’s also a standard piece in every history of American journalism. It’s part of the evolution of newspapers as communication to the masses rather than just a wealthy elite; the development of color printing; the circulation wars between Hearst and Pulitzer; the era of “yellow journalism;” and probably several other topics I can’t be bothered to look up right now. The Kid was prominently mentioned in my 1972 copy of _The Press and America._ It’s not like someone had to be an archivist to figure out he was an Irish tenement-dweller. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2015, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/early-19th-century-comic-strip-character-the-yellow-kid-a-racist-portrayal-of-asians-what/723590/36 "2015-06-27T21:43:37Z")
Not to mention that it would have been impossible to have an Asian, even a caricatured one, be the star of a comic strip in 1895; that he wasn’t the Yellow Kid until 1896, a year after he started and then only by accident; nor that the viewpoint character for a strip called _Hogan’s Alley_ had to be Irish and was even named Mickey Dugan. Hello, comic book guy, remember Dum Dum Dugan, the red-haired Irishman from Sgt. Fury’s Howling Commandos? And this from someone purporting to tell us that things were different in the past. It’s simply a weird mistake to have made. ---
**Author:** ![Simplicio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c37758/32.png) [@Simplicio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simplicio)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2015, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/early-19th-century-comic-strip-character-the-yellow-kid-a-racist-portrayal-of-asians-what/723590/37 "2015-06-27T21:49:04Z")
> [@drad\_dog](#): > > When it stops its public life contexts get lost and it might appear to be something else. I think that’s what happened here, but not in the way you think. People are still familiar with the “Yellow Peril” type characature of Chinese people, while the image of a mischievous, shaved headed Irish tenement kid in handmedown clothes has largely been forgotten. So Campbell assumed the Yellow kid was the former, and fired off his article without taking the time to even google. But I don’t think there’s any question that’s not how the character was meant or was perceived at the time he was created. ---
**Author:** ![drad\_dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@drad\_dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drad_dog)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2015, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/early-19th-century-comic-strip-character-the-yellow-kid-a-racist-portrayal-of-asians-what/723590/38 "2015-06-27T22:07:20Z")
> [@Simplicio](#): > > I think that’s what happened here, but not in the way you think. People are still familiar with the “Yellow Peril” type characature of Chinese people, while the image of a mischievous, shaved headed Irish tenement kid in handmedown clothes has largely been forgotten. So Campbell assumed the Yellow kid was the former, and fired off his article without taking the time to even google. > > But I don’t think there’s any question that’s not how the character was meant or was perceived at the time he was created. True enough. He didn’t do his research. But that look has taken on asian connotations for many many years now. His image in many of those cartoons is indistinguishable from an asian caricature of the 20th century. And that’s when I heard of the Yellow kid, at a time when stereotypes were common enough as to be unnoticed. Broadcast and reception are not the same. Why is he wearing a dress? ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2015, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/early-19th-century-comic-strip-character-the-yellow-kid-a-racist-portrayal-of-asians-what/723590/39 "2015-06-27T22:19:03Z")
> [@drad\_dog](#): > > But that look has taken on asian connotations for many many years now. His image in many of those cartoons is indistinguishable from an asian caricature of the 20th century. As has been pointed out a number of times, far from being “indistinguishable,” the Yellow Kid does not look at all like the usual Asian caricature. He lacks all of the most common features of that stereotype. Please provide a link to a clearly Asian caricature that actually looks like the Yellow Kid. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2015, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/early-19th-century-comic-strip-character-the-yellow-kid-a-racist-portrayal-of-asians-what/723590/40 "2015-06-27T22:44:59Z")
> [@Claverhouse](#): > > Secondly, I was always taught in school **[Ally Sloper](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ally_Sloper)** was the first comic strip star. He appeared in 1867. “_Slope_-er?” Anti-Asian racism! Though we know where WC Fields got his look. > [@drad\_dog](#): > > Why is he wearing a dress? Duh! [To make it easier to go to the bathroom.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Breeching_(boys)) The answer is a simple search away. You seem to have forgotten your own point that modern researchers can look up most anything in seconds. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/early-19th-century-comic-strip-character-the-yellow-kid-a-racist-portrayal-of-asians-what/723590.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/early-19th-century-comic-strip-character-the-yellow-kid-a-racist-portrayal-of-asians-what/723590.md?page=3)