An editorial published in the Topeka Daily Capital in 1903 cautioned vaudeville comedians not to succumb to pressure groups because it might inspire others: “This may well worry the playwrights and players, for racial caricature … has been regarded as legitimate ever since Shakespeare. If the well-known and almost indispensable Irish policeman is to be abolished from the stage by decree of the Clan-na-gael, what is to hinder the ‘Afro-American’ societies from following suit and threatening dire consequences on the heads of players who represent the stage type of negro?”
