This information simply blows me away since for years I have written about the repugnant “pickininny art” so prevalent & pervasive up to the Civil Rights Movement. The most common theme was Black infants suspended over an alligator pit. At no time did I imagine that Black children were actually used as bait for alligators. It is entirely of a piece with the war against Black youth that prevails today.

https://libertywritersafrica.com/how-african-babies-were-used-as-alligator-bait-during-slavery-in-america/?