They are called "them" — those who have darker skin, practice a different religion, come from another country, have a different sexual orientation, live in a different culture or simply look different.

According to Dr. David Pilgrim, Chief Diversity Officer at Ferris State University in Big Rapids, Michigan, the danger of labeling others as "them" is that separation and hate can be created.

So, to open the eyes of "everyone," Pilgrim and Ferris University's Jim Crow Museum of Racist Memorabilia have created a traveling exhibit of "THEM: Images of Separation," which is being displayed at Elizabethtown College's High Library until Feb. 26.

Although the exhibit was planned as part of African American Heritage Month, it goes beyond stereotyping of African Americans, according to Diane Elliott of Elizabethtown's Diversity Office.

Indeed, this is not an exhibit that discriminates in its images of hate and separation. There are more than 40 images on postcards, license plates, magazines, board games, souvenirs, costumes and photographs that depict negative imagery of blacks (and whites — such as Polish and Irish), Asian-Americans, Hispanics, Jews, homosexuals and those who are overweight.

The effects can be quite jarring, especially when what looks like an abhorrent attempt at humor, a tee-shirt that says, "Some people are alive because it is illegal to kill them" is juxtaposed with  an image of true violence — a heartbreaking photograph of a young black man who has been murdered and hung from a tree.

Another image shows a handsome young black man before he has been brutally beaten. His once fine face is mangled and unrecognizable. (The face is that of Emmett Till, a 14-year-old Chicago boy who was brutally murdered in Mississippi in 1955.)

While these are the images that bring home the horror of hate, the exhibit's true strength comes from the more subtle pictures we have grown up as children.

"The images that are demeaning to African-Americans are only a part of the larger picture. Discrimination and stereotyping is not just a black/white issue. It is much more pervasive than that," said Pilgrim, who developed the Jim Crow Museum at Ferris State while he was a professor of social science.

As he explains, it was a way to tell a story with images, the so-called "a picture is worth a thousand words." As the artifacts in his classroom museum began to grow, it evolved into a true museum and then a traveling exhibit to share with other colleges and organizations.

A picture of a smiling Aunt Jemina with a plate of pancakes might seem harmless enough, but what about the image of the black "Mammy" that it conveys? There are makeup character sets, designed for children who want to dress up as a Chinese, Mexican, American Indian or "Minstrel Zulu."

"Until you see these images in this context, you may not be aware of what they mean to you and to others," reminds Pilgrim.

That's true with pictures of a "Chinese Honeymoon" and a circus poster touting large-lipped "Ubangi Savages." There are tabloid detective magazines with screaming headlines, such as "Queer turns killer!" A U.S. Army poster assures recruits that the Army is "100% homo free." Extremely obese women are ridiculed in photographs that show them in bikinis and in the nude.  So-called "white trash" is the target of other images.

"There is some degree of shock for people when they see these pictures. It is a starting point for conversation. The intention is to be thought provoking," adds Pilgrim.

Horror might be another emotion that comes to light. A KKK Rally poster invites guests to the next lynching. A series of posters claims that the Holocaust never happened and questions the killing of Jews in "Did 6 million really die?"

"Once you get past the shock, you begin to understand how deeply pervasive such images are in our culture," says Pilgrim. "It is like gross anatomy for medical students who need to see the body."

The exhibit follows up on an earlier traveling exhibition titled "Hateful Things," which also comprised artifacts from the Jim Crow Museum.

Traveling Exhibition
"THEM: Images of Separation''
Opened Tues. Cont. through Feb. 26.
Mon.-Thurs. 8 a.m.-1 a.m.
Fri. 9 a.m.-9 p.m.; Sun. 1 p.m.-1 a.m.
Free. High Library
Elizabethtown College, 361-1198