The African Dodger

Carnival clown dunking booths rooted in white supremacy

WARNING: This story is an updated, revised and corrected version of a previous story. Racist and bigoted language, racial slurs, race violence prevalent.

A September, 2019, New York Times story headlined “The Last of the Dunk Tank Clowns” pronounces the gasping demise of the dunking booth, a one-time staple of carnivals and state fairs across the United States. In it, fair-goers paid a couple dollars to hurl three baseballs at a dinner plate-size target that would drop an insult-spewing clown into a tank of lukewarm water.

This attraction is now virtually obsolete. Outdoor Amusement Business Association president Greg Chiecko was quoted as claiming he polled his members about dunk tank clowns and that “most say they don’t know of any that still exist today.”

Maria Calico, president of the International Association of Fairs & Expositions, claimed she has seen an insult clown only “once or twice in the last decade.”

In today’s progressive society, no one wants be disrespected about their hair, clothing or weight as an inducement to drop a trash-talking Bozo into the tank. Recognizing this trend years ago, the clowns’ humor became much tamer, and some of the few games remaining even displayed disclaimers that fair-goers…