Tuesday 5 June 2012

The Mongolian Octopus


The "Mongolian Octopus", first published in the Bulletin in 1886, was a octopus with eight tentacles pointing out bad things about Asian immigrants as bad people that would only strangle the innocent lives of white Australians. Racist cartoons such as this octopus only bring down the thoughts of white Australians at the time. the tentacles of the octopus read: Cheap Labour, Pak Ah-Pu, Immorality, Small-Pox, Opium, Bribery, Fan-Tan and Custom Robbery. This primary source used as a critique of current racial politics. Pak Ah-Pu and Fan Tan are gambling games. Small-Pox is a serious contagious disease. Opium is a drug. Custom Robbery is how the government collects money on goods brought in and out of the country. 

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