Opinion

Though it may sound like a far-fetched conspiracy from the pages of a tragic dystopian novel, human zoos, or ethnological expositions, were real events throughout the colonial era. Remnants of global imperialism eek into societal behaviors, like an etch-a-sketch tracing the past with new clothes. A marker of entitlement and privilege, human zoos are the lesser told stories, whispers that leave modern day conundrums void of historical context, opening the door for straw man fallacies and the reinvention of sadistic tropes. When dog whistles become cacophonous shrieks and grotesque biases graduate from implicit to explicit, it’s time to pull back the curtain and get uncomfortable.