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Cartoon being discussed

No racial intolerance - it causes dangerous disunity. We're all Americans!

The cartoon, recently publicised by this tweet, has seven children dancing around a US flag.

The child in the yellow shirt is intended to represent an African-American child. What races are represented by the six other children, especially the three children with black hair clockwise of the African-American child?

Also, what races within the USA were the US government trying to prevent racism against during WWII?

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    Hard to say for sure, but I think they're all white. My reading of this picture isn't that it portrays many races, like your question seems to imply, but rather that it's a bunch of white kids accepting a black kid into their midst. I don't know enough about your last question to add a full answer, but that's my take of the picture.
    – Nerrolken
    Oct 29, 2014 at 22:39
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    The girl in the red dress could be asian. Look beyond skin color. They all have different clothes. They have different hair. Probably the government is trying to prevent discrimination against Germans and Italians.
    – gillonba
    Nov 13, 2014 at 0:00
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    African, Italian, Chinese, Mexican, and 3 Europeans. Apr 10, 2015 at 15:11
  • @Nerrolken despite not answering his last question, that comment is still good enough to be an actual (provisional) answer
    – o0'.
    Jul 1, 2015 at 16:34
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    I'd like to add: what gives you the idea that this comic is sponsored by the US government? It could easily be from any independent author…
    – o0'.
    Jul 1, 2015 at 16:37

1 Answer 1

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I will give this a shot and credit those who made comments on the OP.

  • Starting with the dark-skinned boy in a yellow shirt, that one is obvious. This is an African, perhaps from Algeria (due to the beret and the beret's association with France).
  • The two blond children to his right are indicative of the stereotypical American, an image we inherited from Europe. These features are common among the Germanic peoples. However, the clothes they are wearing don't appear to have much cultural significance.
  • The boy to her right and partially obscured by the flag is wearing something resembling lederhosen, so I'd place him as a German (whether from Germany, Austria, or Switzerland).
  • The boy to his right has short, curly, dark hair. This tends to be associated with the Mediterranean and the Caribbean. He could be from Spain, southern France, Italy, the Levant, or Mexico. (Credit to rotard.)
  • The girl to his right immediately looked like she was Chinese due to the black hair, round face, and angled eyebrows. (Credit to rotard and Tyler Durden for similar identification.) China was in the middle of a civil war and a war with Japan, so the red of the PRC wasn't immediately associated with China at the time.
  • The boy to her right and the left of the African boy is a little enigmatic. He has straight brown hair with a part down the middle. The part we might associate with Italians (thanks to "The Godfather"), but this poster predates that movie and he has brown hair, not black. Also, he's wearing gingham, which was introduced to Europe through trade with India and Indonesia. By WWII, it was popular throughout Europe and America and its durability made it suitable for children's clothing. Regardless, I'd guess he might be Indian.

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