WATERVILLE -- "Obama Bucks" feature a photograph of the Democratic presidential candidate sandwiched between illustrations of watermelon and Kool-Aid on one side and ribs and a bucket of KFC chicken on the other.

The bogus $10 food stamp, loaded with racial stereotypes, is one of many items that sociologist David Pilgrim refers to as "images of separation."

Pilgrim, founder of the Jim Crow Museum of Racist Memorabilia, visited Colby College last week for a lecture on such cultural artifacts and an informal lunch with area educators.

He focused his presentation on Tuesday's presidential election, a subject for which he has collected no shortage of museum items. He houses the "Obama Bucks" item and more than 5,000 other racist artifacts at Ferris State University in Big Rapids, Mich.

Pilgrim, who has dedicated himself to promoting tolerance, showed much of his collection via a computerized slide show, and he made a point of not limiting himself to racist material.

By showing a variety of "images of separation," he broadened his focus to sexism and ageism, two areas rich in election memorabilia, thanks to the presence of 72-year-old Republican presidential candidate John McCain and Sarah Palin, the first woman to be on the Republican presidential ticket.

"I want you to forget who you support for president of the United States," Pilgrim told his audience at the start of his presentation.

The point, he said, is to instead consider the images for what they are, regardless of who they target.

And the targets were many.

One image showed McCain playing shuffleboard, suggesting he is more fit for retirement than a job in the White House.

Another image had Sen. Hillary Clinton, Obama's chief challenger in the Democratic primary, standing before a urinal accompanied by the phrase, "She's not what she seems."

But, by far, the most numerous images of separation focused on Obama -- a reflection, Pilgrim said, of what he found in the marketplace, including eBay.

He showed images that portrayed Obama as a terrorist, as a monkey and even as the antichrist.

Whatever the form of "ism," Pilgrim made plain that the effect is to dehumanize and distort in an effort to manipulate perceptions.

Pilgrim, who is African-American, said he learned long ago that the best way to combat prejudice is to meet it head-on and force people to examine and discuss the tools used by bigots and hatemongers.

It is a fight, he said, that he knows will never end.

"The reality," he said, "is that you always will have these discussions. You never get to the point where it is done. And that is frustrating to some people."

Promoting diversity

Colby Russian professor Julie de Sherbinin, who attended Pilgrim's presentation, supports such conversations, and is someone willing to stand up to prejudice.

She did so last fall when she organized a rally in response to an alleged hate crime in Waterville that involved a man who had a "White Power" tattoo on one forearm.

De Sherbinin used the rally to promote the growth of diversity and healthy multiracial relations.

Six years earlier, she started Faculty Allies at Colby with a similar goal in mind.

"It was formed," she said, "in recognition that added levels of alienation existed for many students of color (at Colby), particularly those who came from lower-income households."

De Sherbinin and fellow Faculty Allies members meet with such students for meals and activities about three times a semester to make them feel more comfortable in their college community.

Last fall, the conversations on separation became more student-to-student at Colby after psychology professor Joseph Atkins founded a branch of Campus Conversations on Race.

'Dialogue, not debate'

The program, started at Emerson College in Boston, brings students together to share feelings and concerns about racial issues.

"The whole purpose of it is dialogue, not debate," Atkins said. "My students here at Colby love the program."

De Sherbinin, who is involved with the program, said Campus Conversations on Race attracted about 80 students last spring and is active again this fall.

Atkins, 55, said the college students he deals with at Colby are more open-minded and accepting of diversity than college students of his era.

Likewise, he said, he is encouraged and surprised that Obama leads the poll and could emerge Tuesday as this country's first African-American president.

"It never would have been possible years ago," Atkins said of Obama's political ascension. "That would be my first take on it. I never thought this would happen in my lifetime."

Pilgrim, though, makes clear that the forces of separation are far from defeated -- and he has the stuff to prove it, including a T-shirt that features an altered image of Obama with horns extending from his forehead and fangs hanging from his mouth.

"OK," Pilgrim said, looking at the image, "I'm going to go out on a limb and say he is not the antichrist."

Colin Hickey -- 861-9205

chickey@centralmaine.com