Journal, November 19, 1918:

Journal, March 6, 1920:

Journal, March 31, 1920:

Herald-Examiner, May 25, 1920:

Chicago Tribune, May 25, 1920:

Herald-Examiner, June 13, 1920:

Herald-Examiner, December 28, 1919:

Herald-Examiner, September 24, 1918:

Herald-Examiner, April 7, 1919:

Herald-Examiner, April 4, 1920:

Journal, March 20, 1919:

In two instances a racial bombing was considered significant enough to occupy more than nine inches of one column. This space was given by the Tribune and the Herald-Examiner.

Jesse Binga, a Negro banker, was bombed five times. The article in the Daily News was five inches long. In the Herald-Examiner, April 20, 1919, there appeared an article, "Curious Boy Drops Bomb as It Explodes." The article covered eleven inches, of which eight inches were given to the story of a boy who picked up a bomb in the street and dropped it as a lady signaled him to drop it because it might be an explosive. At the end of this article were appended three inches containing a narrative of a racial bombing at 4722 Indiana Avenue where Wimes & Lassiter, Negro real-estate dealers, had an office.

The fifth bombing directed against Mr. Binga is treated humorously in spite of the serious damage done to his home.

The average length of racial bombing articles was about four and one-half inches. The explanations of motive offered were stereotyped in character and involved assumptions which it is not considered necessary here to analyze. It was explained that the person bombed was a Negro or that he had moved into a "distinctly white residential district," against which encroachment bombing had been instituted as an intimidating or expulsive measure. It was sometimes stated that the person was a real estate agent negotiating with Negroes concerning property in "restricted" districts. This sort of explanation was either stated in the headline or appended at the end in a brief sentence. The reports in the papers apparently undertook merely to notify the public that bombings had happened. The following are examples of press treatment of race bombings:

Herald-Examiner, May 25, 1918:

Post, November 19, 1918:

Tribune, March 19, 1919:

Post, March 20, 1919:

Post, April 7, 1919:

Tribune, April 7, 1919:

Herald-Examiner, April 20, 1919:

Tribune, May 18, 1919:

Post, June 13, 1919:

Post, January 6, 1920:

Daily News, February 2, 1920:

Daily News, February 10, 1920:

Daily News, February 13, 1920:

Herald-Examiner, March 11, 1920:

Journal, March 24, 1920:

A typical example of newspaper reports of the bombings of Negro homes appeared in the Herald-Examiner of April 4, 1920:

One of the typical shorter reports also appeared in the same paper May 25, 1918:

Similar language was used in all the articles.

Most of the articles carried a suggestion of a race war on the South Side. Many of the reports helped to contribute to popular anticipation of future trouble. For example, in the Post of January 6, 1920, page 1, column 3, a bombing was reported thus: "A bomb early today damaged the residence at 4404 Grand Boulevard which was said to have been a Negro 'sniping-post' during the race riot last summer."

The home at 4404 Grand Boulevard was owned and occupied by Mrs. Byron Clarke, and was not a sniping-post during the riot. It had been bombed four times, once while officers were guarding it. All papers used the expression, "No one was hurt." Property destruction was usually dismissed with statements like these: "All the glass was shattered"; "the front porch was demolished"; "about $—— damage was done"; or "the damages were slight." The Daily News was exceptional in using the word "outrage" three times.

Two reports gave accounts of arrests, and all others in which police activity was mentioned merely said, "The police are investigating." None of the articles gave the results of any such investigation, other than that the police generally attributed the "hurling of the bomb" to the occupants of a black touring-car. The articles contained no condemnation of the bombings as lawlessness or crime except in the case of a bombing at 3401 Indiana Avenue, where a child was killed May 1, 1919. The Chicago Tribune spoke of this death as an incident of that bombing.

One of the two arrests above referred to was that of a janitor who was not able to explain sufficiently his presence in or about a building which had just been bombed. He was taken into custody but was soon dismissed. The other arrest was that of the nephew of a prominent business man living in the neighborhood of the bombed property.

During the time from February, 1918, to February, 1919, prior to the Chicago riot, there were eleven bombings in the city. If each paper had reported each bombing there would have been sixty-six reports. Only seven reports actually appeared. During the six weeks immediately preceding the Chicago race riot, there were seven racial bombings. Of a possible forty-two reports, only four appeared, or two bombings in two papers. Thus violent and criminal expressions of hostility which might have been checked by arousing the public conscience silently continued. The resentment of Negroes increased, and the ignorance of the larger white public remained undisturbed. The articles were apparently written without much investigation. Upon the fifth bombing of Mr. Binga's home, the American, Herald-Examiner, and Chicago Daily News quoted Mr. Binga as saying, "This is the limit; I am going." Mr. Binga declares that he did not say this, that he did not even see a reporter, and that he had not moved.

During the nine months following the riot, publicity on bombings increased to several times the former amount. Beginning in March, 1920, the articles again showed slackened interest. The Tribune and Herald-Examiner, usually giving most frequent publicity to such matters, missed about every other one. The Post had no reports, the Journal two, the News four, and the American none. Seven bombings took place from March 1 to July 1.

The apparent indifference toward race bombings in the minds of editors, officials, and the public was indicated by the relative prominence given to a race bomb which threatened life and damaged property as compared with an "odor bomb" dropped in a moving-picture theater.

On the first page of the Tribune of February 11, 1921, under the caption "Crow Raid Opens Inquiry into Bombs," were seventeen inches of space reporting cases of "odor bombs" and emphasizing the determination of the state's attorney to make investigation. At the bottom of the adjoining column were four inches devoted to a dynamite race bomb which damaged a three-story apartment and involved menace to life. No reference was made to any effort by the state's attorney or the police to investigate. Similar prominence was given to the "odor bomb" in the Herald-Examiner.

An editorial in the Tribune, February 14, 1921, condemning bombing made no reference to the fifty-six race bombings of recent record, but did refer to other bombing aimed at white citizens. The editorial reads:

The Abyssinian affair.—The "Abyssinian affair" referred to earlier in this part of the report, was treated with remarkably good judgment by the press. It is to be believed that further clashes were avoided by the effective way in which the newspapers pointed out that the demonstration was the work of fanatics rather than a race riot. Two days later, however, the Chicago Tribune published an article ascribing the Abyssinian murders to "racial reds." The article ran:

The "colored leaders" quoted were F. L. Barnett, R. S. Abbott, and A. H. Roberts. They did not impute any such danger to Mr. Du Bois' books. Mr. Barnett, for example, mentioned the exploitation of the "Back to Africa" movement by Jonas and Redding, while Mr. Abbott and Mr. Roberts spoke of the lack of sympathy among Negroes for criminal types like Jonas and Redding. The article then stated the "Du Bois Creed," saying:

The article quoted from Darkwater a chapter, which, by cutting the text, left a suggestion of sex intimacy between a colored bank messenger and a white girl very different from the intention of the author. The entire article was calculated, through its suggestion and insinuation, to rouse racial antagonism. It is doubtful whether the "Abyssinian" leaders, who were ignorant fanatics little known within the Negro group, had read Du Bois' books. With all its wildness and fatuousness the movement was directed away from America and from whites. A photograph of Du Bois was published with the caption:

Karl Marx of Negroes
Noted Colored Philosopher Whose Works Are Used by Agitators to
Stir Race Hatred

Miscegenation.—Similarly dangerous treatment is apparent in an article which appeared in the Tribune of November 6, 1920, under the heading: "Miscegenation is O.K.'d in New Constitution."

The article called attention to a proposed provision in the new state constitution of Illinois against public discrimination on account of color, which was intended to put into the constitution rights already guaranteed by state laws. According to the article this law was tentatively agreed upon "during the newsy days surrounding the Republican National Convention and escaped the notice of the public generally." The article said:

The remainder of the article dealt in brief with fifteen other decisions of the Convention. These decisions were merely stated and not commented upon.

Newspaper handling of the "back of the Yards" fire.—At the close of the Chicago riot fire was set to a large number of houses back of the Stock Yards. Since these were the homes of white persons, principally Lithuanians, it was generally assumed that it was an act of retaliation by Negroes. Articles in the newspapers strengthened the belief. The Chicago Daily News article gave a full account of statements made by Fire Marshal O'Connor to the effect that Negroes were responsible. It stated that the police and militia were combing the South Side for a band of eight Negroes, alleged automobile fire bugs. These men, it was said, were stalled in an automobile at West Fifty-fifth and South Wood streets ten blocks south of the fire; when the police reached Fifty-fifth Street the Negroes had repaired their car and fled. John R. McCabe, Fire Department attorney, was reported as being positive that the fire was started by Negroes.

Investigation was made by the Commission to ascertain the facts concerning Negro responsibility for these incendiary fires. The state's attorney declared that no records had come to his office implicating Negroes, and that he had no information, except rumors which he seriously questioned. The records, he thought, were held at the Stock Yards police court. Inquiry at this police station disclosed the fact that no Negroes had been apprehended on this charge, and the belief was expressed that the act was committed by white men with blackened faces. The fire marshal's office had no record other than unsubstantiated rumors spread by persons living in the district. The matter had been dropped for lack of evidence.

Negro revolt.—On January 4, 1920, during the general crusade against "reds" the Herald-Examiner published a two-inch headline across the top of the first page saying:

Reds Plot Negro Revolt
I.W.W. Bomb Plant Found on South Side

The article mentioned below alleged secret activities of Negroes and their plans to revolt against the government. The bomb plant and many of their secret plans were reported to have been discovered by the state's attorney's office. The article further stated: "In Chicago it was learned that the headquarters for Negro revolutionary propaganda are centered in these four organizations: The Free Thought Society, Universal Negro Improvement Association, Negro Protective League, and Soldiers and Sailors Club."

Each organization named was, as a matter of fact, open to the public, though patronized almost entirely by Negroes. The Negro Improvement Association was by no means secret in its plans; it published a newspaper in which they were set forth. The slogan of this organization was then and is now, "Back to Africa," and not "Down with the United States."

The Free Thought Society mentioned is the Chicago Free Thought Educational Society. The following is a declaration of its principles:

Among its members are W. E. Mollison, F. D. Summers, and among its honorary members are F. Percy Ward, lecturer for the Chicago Rationalist Society, and Clarence S. Darrow. The Negro Protective League is an employment office and day nursery. The full name of the organization is the Negro Equal Rights and Protective Association.

The Soldiers and Sailors Club is a community house located on the South Side and a branch of the local War Camp Community Service. It served during war time as a recreational and social center for returning soldiers, and in 1920 became the South Side Branch of Community Service, Incorporated. At the time of the article it was under the general supervision of the Chicago Community Service, of which Eugene T. Lies, formerly of the United Charities, was director.

Newspaper handling of the Waukegan riot.—Considerable excitement was occasioned by reports in all the Chicago daily papers of a race riot in Waukegan, about thirty-six miles north of Chicago. The first news reports gave the following versions:

Inquiry by the Commission brought out the following facts: The first newspaper accounts of the riot indicated that Lieutenant Blazier and his wife were driving in one automobile, and that Mr. Bairscow was driving in another automobile. The story was that Mrs. Blazier was injured by glass from the windshield broken by stones, and that a woman occupant of the Bairscow car was similarly injured. Lieutenant Blazier and Mr. Bairscow were driving in the same car, the windshield of which was broken, instead of separate cars. There was no woman in the car and Lieutenant Blazier has no wife.

The story was telephoned into the Tribune by a member of the staff of the Waukegan Sun. This was the source of the report of the woman being injured.

The stoning occurred one block away from the Sherman House, occupied by Negroes.

Negro housing in Chicago.—The housing situation has frequently occasioned alarm on the part of whites and bitterness of feeling toward Negroes. Many newspaper articles, by their play upon racial fears, have increased the tension between the two groups. An example of this type of article is given:

Inquiry by the Commission disclosed a situation similar to that underlying many discussions of "exclusive areas." The article was written by a member of the Tribune staff. It was learned at Mr. O'Brien's office that he had come to that office inquiring about the matter. A member of the O'Brien firm stated to him that he did not think the matter had any racial significance because the firm intended to sell the houses to present tenants, all of whom happened to be white.

Labeling fights as "riots."—Attention might be called to the suggestion in articles which treat trivial disputes and street fights as race riots. On August 4, 1920, the Evening Post published an article headed: "Negroes Held to Grand Jury after Riot in Street Car."

The article related a dispute over a car seat ending in a fight in which one man was stabbed. The entire article is given:

In May, 1920, the Tribune gave eight inches to an article with the headline: "Race Riot and Labor Riot in New England." The item reported a fight between a Negro waiter and a Harvard student in one of the college dining-halls. To show how trivial the incident was the article said in part:

The Daily News referred to a "riot" precipitated by a colored chef's remarks. The incident referred to loud talking in the kitchen of a Greek restaurant and the chef's swearing at a cook which was overheard by a woman in the dining-room. She objected, and the police were called. Another such article appeared in the Tribune under the heading: "Women in Riot. White versus Negro in Reformatory." The article told of state troops, local police, and a chaplain having been mobilized to stop a "race riot." The casualties given were one policeman bitten by a girl and several state troopers kicked and scratched.

An instance of undiscriminating news handling appeared in the Chicago Tribune of July 24, 1917. During the race riot in East St. Louis, while the front pages of all the papers were filled with descriptions of the horrors, an article appeared in the fourth column of the first page, along with the East St. Louis riot news. It occupied fourteen inches and bore the heading: "Whites Were Firing at Blacks near Scene of Murder. Four Negroes Jailed after Slaying of Aged Man." Of the fourteen inches, six were given to an account of the murder in Chicago of a saloon-keeper by a Negro in which mobs of Negroes were said to have flourished guns; four inches were given to a totally irrelevant report that two young white girls were chased through Washington Park by a Negro; three inches more to a further account of the first murder, and one inch to a report that a Negro was shot by a policeman.

On the second page was an eleven-inch article with the large headline: "Lawyer Warns Negroes Here to Arm Themselves." Underneath was a five-inch report concerning a Negro held for trial on a girl's story of an attack. Nine inches were given in another article to a warning by Chicago labor leaders that "the influx of blacks" to replace the strikers in the plants was bringing a riot peril to Chicago. Under this article was an account of the freeing of a policeman for killing a Negro; and beneath this an article from Orange, Texas, with the headline: "Negro Shot Down Trying to Escape after Crime." Also on the same page nine inches were devoted to a condemnation of black politics in East St. Louis, and three inches to a minor clash in which a Negro was reported to have drawn a knife when attacked by six white youths. Two inches were given to the account of a clash between Negroes and whites in New York City and seventy-two inches to accounts of the East St. Louis riot.

The emphasis was on the work of the mob and the fact that Negroes were replacing strikers in East St. Louis, and that this was responsible for the riot. Some of the reports of Chicago incidents proved to be inaccurate. It developed that Charles A. Maronde, a saloon-keeper, who was supposed to have been killed by Negroes, his death precipitating a clash between Negroes and white persons, actually died of heart failure. There was no connection and no apparent reason for inserting the incident of the white girls being chased through the park by a Negro. This report was hearsay and was joined to the article in this manner: "About the time the Negroes were being fired upon, two young white girls were being chased by a Negro through Washington Park."

The item concerning the Negro held for trial on the charge of a white that he had attacked her, turned out to be the imaginings of a young girl, which involved a forty-three-year-old Negro, whose character had never before been questioned, and who, as the facts developed, was entirely innocent. Linked up in this article was an account of disciplining in the county jail; 150 prisoners had been locked in their cells and placed on bread and water because they were found shooting craps in the "bull pen."

Flippant treatment and ridicule of Negroes.—The "human-interest" newspaper story is undoubtedly one of the most effective means of gaining public attention. But it presents a single incident from which the reader is likely to apply characteristics vividly set forth concerning an individual to the group of which the individual is a member. It therefore leads to unfair judgments of the group when the characteristics are not representative of the group, even if they are representative of the individuals. It may be written with genuine humor and with the best of intentions, or perhaps only with thoughtlessness of the effect. But that does not obviate the sense of injury when the group involved feels itself misrepresented and held up to ridicule.

Newspaper flippancy concerning Negroes has found a sensitive spot among members of the race. Often there are suggestions and exaggerated descriptions that can be characterized as nothing else than ridicule. Negroes especially resent misrepresentation of Negro weddings, since no accounts are given by white newspapers of more representative weddings.

During the war Negroes were as seriously engaged in battle and as freely sacrificing their lives as other soldiers. When deeds of heroism were cabled back to the United States, Negroes at home expected serious reports of the activities of the sons, husbands, and brothers whom they had given up to fight for their country. Exception was taken by them to newspaper treatment of a serious feat as merely ludicrous. For example:

The following is a news report, with dialect, which was supposed to have been cabled from Paris:

"Crap shooting" is ordinarily regarded as the peculiar pastime and passion of Negroes. Popular expectation is fed by newspaper stories of these games, made even more humorous by dialect, and the frequent implications of levity in religious matters. Such stories would probably be enjoyed by Negroes if they did not have the effect of picturing this trait as an exclusively Negro form of gambling.

Or again, the newspaper plays up a supposed superstition of the Negro in such an article as appeared in the Chicago Tribune of January 1, 1920, under the heading "Negroes Driven to Jail in Big Black Hearse." Pseudo-serious newspaper reference was made to Negro street sweepers as the "official chamber maids" of the city in an article in the Chicago Herald of March 31, 1916, headed: