Conrad X. Shinn (1887-1951), popularly known as “Uncle Cobb” Shinn, was a prolific American illustrator in the early 20th century. His illustrated postcards remain a popular collectible today.

His illustration here, used in one of our LDS children’s magazines in the 1920s, is a reminder that LDS participation in racist behavior (in this case, blackface or minstrelsy imagery) goes far beyond anything that could remotely be thought to have a theological basis. This is how assumptions of racial inferior/superiority passed from one generation to the next, even among us who are bound by doctrine that “all are alike unto God,” even to small children in the Intermountain West who likely had very rare contacts with living African Americans.

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(I have a good old-time Keepa story about a lesser-known Saint that should be ready for posting today or tomorrow.)