Birdwatch Note Rating
2023-08-17 11:16:34 UTC - NOT_HELPFUL
Rated by Participant: 5EB348940336892F47E7221B75845FD9A17A5248DFCAD5BAAFFD2C15B78A11AD
Participant Details
Original Note:
These are "dirt eater masks". Slave owners forced slaves to wear it to stop them from eating dirt. Geophagy, pica or dirt eating is caused due to diet deficiency. Slave owners believed that putting a mask on the slaves would stop them from eating dirt and getting sick. https://www.nytimes.com/1984/02/13/us/southern-practice-of-eating-dirt-shows-signs-of-waning.html https://thewildpeak.wordpress.com/2015/07/12/dirt-eating-slaves-and-impressed-sailors/ https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2014/04/02/297881388/the-old-and-mysterious-practice-of-eating-dirt-revealed
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