I found this on the internet and am wondering what the truth is? If it's true, what kind of numbers of victims are we talking about?

Were Black Children Used as Alligator Bait in the American South?

Tales of youngsters chained up as "alligator bait" in the deep South of the 18th and early 19th centuries bespeak the United States' racist past.

https://www.snopes.com/news/2017/06/09/black-children-alligator-bait/

Black Babies Used as Alligator Bait in the U.S.

https://medium.com/the-collector/black-babies-used-as-alligator-bait-in-the-u-s-4b0540f4b40c