Alligator bait - Wikipedia
In American slang, alligator bait is a racial slur for African-Americans. In the American popular imagination, black children were commonly used as bait for hunting alligators, [1] which are …
Here’s what UF’s historian says about the ‘Gator Bait’ history …
Jun 27, 2020 · Lawrence Wright’s exclamation “If you ain’t a Gator, you must be Gator bait” after UF won the 1996 football championship is now part of the Gator Nation vocabulary.
Black Babies Were Used as Alligator Bait in the American South?
May 11, 2024 · Black Babies Were Used as Alligator Bait in the American South? Tales of infants being used as alligator bait were popularized in 19th-century newspapers, on postcards and in …
‘Alligator Alcatraz’ evokes racist slur of ‘gator bait’ | Miami Herald
Jul 10, 2025 · The term “gator bait” is a racist trope used since the 19th century to describe Black children used to lure alligators.
Gator Bait – Florida Folk History
Nov 20, 2025 · Were Black people, particularly Black babies, used as bait to catch alligators in Florida? As seen by these “humorous” postcards from the 1900’s, the trope of alligators …
Alligator Bait - 2013 - Question of the Month - Jim Crow Museum
African American babies being used as alligator bait really happened, and it happened to real people. It doesn't seem to have been a widespread practice, but it did happen. It is hard to …
Alligator Alcatraz leans on myth steeped in racism - Axios
Jul 21, 2025 · What's more, the idea of the alligator lusting for human flesh is rooted in racism, dating back to Jim Crow, when tourists could buy postcards illustrating Black children as "gator …
The Racist History Behind Florida’s Gator Bait Chant - Medium
Dec 8, 2023 · “If you ain’t a gator then you must be gator bait.” This seemingly normal chant in the university of Florida holds dark meanings. An urban legend from the 19th and 20th century …
Gator Bait Meaning – Were Black Children Used as Alligator Bait …
Aug 16, 2025 · “Gator Bait” emerged from that twisted reality. It was a sickening practice where African American babies and kids were used as bait to lure Americans used black children as …
The gut-wrenching history of black babies and alligators
Jun 22, 2016 · The idea that black children are acceptable gator bait was not born in the head of one zookeeper, it was a practice in the American Everglades that inspired lore and occasioned …