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Get up out of that so I can take one more punch at you!
Sadly, Everett would need to wait for the Fair Housing Act of 1968 for this landlord’s behavior to be federally illegal. It’s unclear what state Mr. True lives in (besides anger, obviously).
This comic is from the early 1900s, when they didn’t have those protections. The Federal Fair Housing Act wasn’t passed until the 60s, and it wasn’t expanded to include families with children until the 80s.
It’s possible he is defending renter’s rights here, but it’s important to remember that prior to WWII eugenics was considered a progressive cause, and it was championed by other progressive groups at the time as well, like feminist groups. The idea was that you could reduce suffering by not causing people with undesirable traits (mostly disabilities) to be born to begin with. If True was a eugenicist, it wouldn’t be out of place in the historical context of things.