Alligator Alcatraz leans on myth steeped in racism
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People posing with the Alligator Alcatraz sign. Photo: Joe Raedle/Getty Images
Key to the marketing ploy underpinning Florida's detention camp in the Everglades is the alligator, portrayed by Republican leaders as a blood-thirsty prison guard ready to attack anyone who escapes.
Why it matters: Nothing about the portrayal is accurate, experts in alligator biology and history tell Axios.
- What's more, the idea of the alligator lusting for human flesh is rooted in racism, dating back to Jim Crow, when tourists could buy postcards illustrating Black children as "gator bait."
- "This idea that being around alligators is inherently dangerous is very problematic and misunderstood," said Mark V. Barrow Jr., a Virginia Tech history professor working on a book about the cultural history of American alligators.
The big picture: Florida's reptilian mascot isn't just in the nickname-turned-official name of the detention center. It's central to the premise.
- "When people get out, there's not much waiting for them other than alligators and pythons," state Attorney General James Uthmeier said in a June 19 video introducing Alligator Alcatraz. "Nowhere to go, nowhere to hide."
- AI-generated memes depicting alligators in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement hats, as well as merchandise, followed soon after.
- During his visit to the facility this month, President Trump joked that the critters serve as "bodyguards" and "cops."
Reality check: "They're not on our side. It's silly to think that," Mark Teshera, a wildlife biologist who studies alligator behavior, told Axios.
Flashback: The idea of alligators as ferocious, human-eating beasts dates back to accounts from William Bartram, a naturalist from Philadelphia who in the late 18th century traveled to the Southeast, Barrow told Axios.
- Bartram's widely read book chronicling the experience included over-the-top descriptions of the reptile and stories of seemingly unprovoked attacks.
The myth has persisted for centuries — including after Emancipation, when the false, racist belief that alligators liked the taste of Black flesh proliferated in the South.
- It was "part of this broad campaign to dehumanize, oppress, suppress newly freed African Americans," Barrow said.
- That history is why the University of Florida ceased its "gator bait" cheer and band performance in 2020.
The other side: Gov. Ron DeSantis' office did not respond to Axios' requests for comment.
Between the lines: Alligators don't consider humans prey and often react to them with fear, said Teshera, who authored a study that found that risky human behaviors caused most alligator attacks.
- Those behaviors include swimming in waterways known to be inhabited by alligators, walking dogs near their habitats, and feeding them.
- That also explains why, in Florida's scenic rivers and swamps, humans can observe alligators with little risk. Just be sure to practice situational awareness and give them space, Teshera said.
What they're saying: "Alligators get such a bad rep, but when you break it down … they're usually reacting to a situation," he said.
- "They're not out cruising around looking for a victim."