Black Birds as White Wings
Negroes Supplant Sons of Italy as City's Official Chambermaids
Or again, a Negro saves a white man from a mob and is called a "darky" in the report of the incident:
Darky Pastor Saves White Autoist from Negro Mob
Newport News, Va., Oct. 27.—The attempt here today of a mob of Negroes to lynch Isadore Cohen after his automobile had run over a Negro child was frustrated by R. H. Green, a Negro preacher, who fought off the white man's assailants long enough to let him escape in the car. Cohen is held without bond [Chicago Tribune, October 28, 1920].
A Chicago colored boy is pictured at the Salvation Army Camp at Glen Ellyn. Under the picture is the title "Rastus." He has been given a piece of watermelon to complete the picture.
Joy Supreme
"Come here, you Rastus, and git yo' pitcher took t' show how glad you are."
Rastus was glad and Rastus came hither, but he was so glad about going to the Salvation Army Camp yesterday with several hundred boys and girls from the poorer districts that he failed to register the smile his mammy demanded.
The annual camp of the Salvation Army at Glen Ellyn opened in the afternoon. In the morning the first group of children left over the Northwestern Railroad. Practically every nationality was represented [Chicago Tribune, July 3, 1920].
Another picture is given in another issue of a little Negro boy at the Juvenile Detention Home. It is headed "Losted," and carries the suggestion of loose family life:
Little Pickaninny Who Waits Father and Mother to Claim Him
Who's lost a little colored boy about four years old? He's at the Juvenile Detention Home. He says his mother is "Mis' Brown" and his father "Mistuh Parsons."
He's got an inexpensive lavalliere for identification, a dime with a hole in it. He keeps the dime on his neck by means of a piece of string that runs through the hole [Chicago Tribune].
The policy of a newspaper in handling racial news can be better determined by studying its articles and editorials than by asking the editors. In fact, when the editor of the Tribune was asked concerning this matter he referred the Commission to the columns of his paper. It would be difficult to find a definite policy on the race question stated and consistently followed out by any newspaper in all items affecting race issues. Ordinarily when misleading emphasis, misinterpretation, and distortions of fact occur, they are due to the ignorance concerning Negroes which is fairly general among white persons, rather than to any inclination to injure a disadvantaged group of people. Reporters and editors frequently use, doubtless unwittingly, terms unnecessarily irritating to Negroes. Individual notions of relations between whites and Negroes determine the character, color, and emphasis of articles and editorials.
A conference of editors of the white press was held to discuss these matters with the Commission. The white press was represented by Edgar T. Cutter, district superintendent of the Associated Press, W. A. Curley, managing editor of the Chicago American, Victor F. Lawson, editor of the Chicago Daily News, and Julian Mason, managing editor of the Chicago Evening Post. A brief questionnaire was filled out and returned by Joseph M. Patterson, editor of the Chicago Tribune.
Chicago American.—The Chicago American had recently adopted a policy of eliminating the racial designation, "Negro" or "colored," unless some special circumstance made the mention of race of particular news value. Said Mr. Curley:
There was a meeting at which newspaper men were gathered together with some representatives of the colored race down in a clubhouse on Grand Boulevard, the Appomattox Club, and we were informed then that there was a feeling among the Negroes that the newspapers emphasized in crime stories particularly the fact that a man was a Negro. Our publisher and I discussed it, and we decided that there was no more reason to emphasize that it was a Negro bandit than that it was an Irish or Jew bandit.
Our general policy has been that we must treat the Negro with the same consideration and tolerance as we give any other nationality. When he had those troubles here before [the riot of July, 1919] we had some editorials to that effect.
Since the date of the meeting mentioned, the American has consistently maintained this policy. Its editorials prior to that time had shown a spirit of tolerance and fairness. During the riot especially it published editorials designed to aid in the restoration of order.[89] It published perhaps the strongest of local newspaper editorials condemning the bombing of Negro homes.
Chicago Daily News.—The Chicago Daily News in its reference to Negroes used the expression "colored." Although it had sometimes published articles which were not representative, it had often given space and prominence to news concerning Negroes which presented them in a more favorable light. This was clearly manifested during the world-war. Its interest in a serious treatment of Negro affairs was shown in two special series of articles, the first by Junius B. Wood, the second by Carl Sandburg, both published later as booklets. These articles were well received and gave a necessary balance to the more usual publication of stories involving Negroes only in crimes. In a special column of the Daily News, "The Human Side of Things," many articles have been published relating to efforts for social welfare among Negroes.
Concerning the use of the racial designation in reporting crimes, Mr. Lawson explained that he considered it appropriate to mention race, as, for example, in giving an account of a lynching or the bombing of a Negro home. The racial designation, he believed, gave significance to the article. This consideration, he believed, balanced references in other cases. He said:
The newspaper point of view is to use the national, or professional, or racial distinction, the word giving the distinction, wherever it interprets the news that is being printed. There are some places where the character of the thing that is being told naturally suggests the name Negro, or the word Presbyterian, or Jew or Gentile or German or English, or Irish, and the newspaper never stops to suppress that. On the contrary it puts it in as interpreting fully the character of the news that is being told.
Concerning news items unnecessarily provoking race antagonism, as, for example, reports of speeches by a candidate for governor of Illinois on "White Supremacy," he thought that most of the papers as well as his own "played it down."
The statements of Mr. Lawson on other questions of policy are quoted:
Mr. Lawson: We regard items describing constructive work by Negroes or items indicating their advancement as better news than articles indicating degradation or criminality on their part. The Daily News endeavors to appeal to all readers alike. Instructions in news handling comprehend the employment of fairness, conservatism, and candor; special instructions based on these principles are issued to cover special cases. The terms "darky," "nigger," "coon," "shine," "wench," and "negress" are not employed by members of the staff in writing news articles and are rarely admitted to any class of matter. The style of the Daily News for many years has been to speak of the Negro as a colored man and the Negroes as colored people. When "Negro" is used it is rarely capitalized.
Commissioner: Is it objectionable?
Mr. Lawson: No, simply the style of the paper; typographic styles of paper vary. Some papers capitalize more than others. Some papers always spell the word "Bible" with a capital B. We don't. It simply follows the style of the paper. Dialects are very seldom employed in the news stories. They are not used to ridicule any race or nationality. The Daily News recognizes the importance and delicacy of the race problems in Chicago in its news columns as elsewhere in the paper. It aims to assist constructive movements, eliminate sensationalism, and quiet prejudice, while at the same time presenting truthfully such facts as may be of interest and proper to the reading public as a whole. I think, perhaps, I ought to emphasize that last thought to this extent: the newspaper impulse is to print the news, that is the controlling, dominating purpose of the newspaper mind, to print the news. But circumstances will at times suggest some particular expression of that impulse. Many times, as Mr. Curley told you, we don't print the news, we suppress it in the public interest.
Chairman: But that is a difficult self-control.
Mr. Lawson: Yes, I think so. To err is human, to print the news is the natural impulse of newspaper people, but we do recognize—I know all newspapers recognize—a very definite responsibility that, in so far as it lies within a reasonable discretion and a reasonable ability to act, they must consider always the general public interest in any grave matter. I think Mr. —— struck a very important interpretative status when he said he didn't like to have the designation of the race in any respect used as an expression of ridicule. Of course, that goes without saying. No newspaper that is wise, let alone a newspaper that is fair, will deliberately inflict derision on any class of its readers. It is a foolish thing to do aside from anything else, and anything that would seem to suggest a deliberate intent to bring the Negro race into derision, every man in the room would resent and properly. But I think, as I said before, that at times a purpose of derision is imagined when there hasn't been any. I think that is true and I don't think that it is surprising. If I were a member of a race that was fighting its way all the time toward a square deal and a fair show, I presume I'd be supersensitive about some things.
Herald-Examiner.—The Herald-Examiner's principal handling of the race issue has been through the presentation of news items. The term of designation employed is "Negro." On several occasions the Herald-Examiner has made commendable effort to show in its columns that a friendly spirit exists between the two races. Most notable of these efforts was the picture of whites and Negroes fraternizing in an effort to restore order immediately after the "Abyssinian affair," in which two white persons were killed and several Negroes, including a Negro policeman, were injured. Some of its editorials on the Negro question were headed:
Negro Education
Education the Best Solvent for the Negro Problem (Based on the Report of
the Chamber of Commerce of the United States)
Disloyalty and Lynching
East St. Louis Massacres Have Not Been Properly Published. A Gulf
Separates Governor Lowden's Denunciation of the Riot and
the Treatment Accorded Slayers
The Black Man Stood Pat
On the Loyalty of Negroes
No "Patriotic" Mobs
A Condemnation of Mob Violence in Illinois
On the other hand, some of the most emphasized misrepresentations of Negroes have appeared in the Herald-Examiner, as, for example, the story of the "Negro revolt,"[90] and various riot articles.
Chicago Tribune.—The Chicago Tribune stated its policy of handling Negro news to be one of "fair dealing and recognition of the difficulties." The managing editor stated that the Tribune used dialect in cases of kindly human-interest stories, refrained from the use of terms like "darky," "coon," "Negroes," etc., and employed the term Negro, capitalizing the N. The last practice was begun at the instance of Negro leaders. During the threatened race riot the Tribune sought the aid of leading Negro newspapers in Chicago. There were no definite instructions regarding the handling of Negro news matter. The difficulties in race relations recognized by the editors of the Tribune are to be found in the following editorials:
White and Black in Chicago
It is possible for whites and Negroes to live in peace in Chicago. They have done so for years, in normal conditions and in normal times. They have managed to live without much prejudice. There has been good feeling. The Negro has had political equality. There has been an attempt to give him a fair representation in public affairs and not to resent his presence there.
We admit frankly that if political equality had meant the election of Negro mayors, judges, and a majority of Negroes in the city council the whites would not have tolerated it. We do not believe that the whites of Chicago would be any different from the whites of the South in this respect....
We have been able to extend the essentials of citizenship to the Negroes freely because the whites are dominant in numbers. All the essentials are in the possession of the Negro. He is not Jim-Crowed by law. A line is drawn by usage. The law in fact forbids what actually is done. It is a futile law because it encounters instinct.
Legally a Negro has right to service anywhere the public generally is served. He does not get it. Wisely he does not ask for it. There has been an illegal, non-legal, or extra-legal adjustment founded upon common sense which has worked in the past, and it will work in the future.
The fact is that so long as this city is dominated by whites, whether because of their numbers without force or by their force if they were in the minority, there will be limitations placed upon the black people. They will be limitations which will not work an injustice to the black people, who have a right to their own development.
There is no objection to economic equality. There is a decided objection to the exploitation of black labor. During the war many Negroes were brought from the South. Thousands of them went into the Stock Yards. The war shut off the supply of common labor. The South supplied the want.
Thus the population of blacks doubled in war times. Concerns which brought the Negro here to exploit him damaged the community by throwing a race question upon it. Concerns which needed the Negro and put him upon an equal basis with the whites, without importing cheap labor to take the jobs of whites, were legitimately supplying their need for labor.
The race issue in California grew out of the fact that the Japanese were cutting under the price of white labor. That will produce race troubles as quickly as anything.
Concerns may have been derelict in not considering the housing problem. The imported Negroes could not live in the streets or vacant lots. They had to get under roofs, and in getting under roof they suddenly established new contact with white neighborhoods.
In this change there was bound to be trouble unless precautions were taken. In the present case there is no evidence of precaution and some of provocation. It is possible for that question to adjust itself. Such realty movements cannot take place without friction, but the friction need not lead to riots. The city is steadily shifting in residential character. Some of the people affected by the shifts do not like it, but in normal times the readjustment is not disturbing to the community. A spread of factories may change the character of a section. A spread of Negroes may do the same thing.
A writer once summed up the Negro question by saying, "The North has the principles and the South has the Negroes." We are coming to have the Negroes, and we want to keep the principles so far as they are applicable.
Industrial radicalism, expressed in the I.W.W. propaganda among the Negroes, will not help us to keep them. Thuggery will not help us to keep them. A rebellion by the Negroes against facts which exist and will persist will not help us to keep them, but we are confident that the situation in Chicago is susceptible of being handled in the fashion it always has been handled.
Unsettling the Race Problem
... Regardless of what may be considered the justice of the claims of the races, the fact undeniably is that white and black will not mix in quantity. For this reason—the reason reached by the jury—the remedy seems obvious: there must be a plane upon which the races can live socially distinct but industrially co-operative.
We are not disposed to think that the mass of the Negroes want social equality in the full sense of the term. The Tribune has had many intelligently composed letters from Negroes disclaiming any such desire. We believe the Negroes want an opportunity to develop their own society. If this is true there ought not be widespread objection to social segregation, directed by themselves and upon the theory of wholesome living conditions.
But against what we think is an inherent disregard for exact social equality there is appearing a very insidious propaganda among the Negroes. Whether it is being circulated as a radical irritant calculated to disturb political conditions or merely is the parlor philosophy of eager sociological transcendentalists, there is no means of determining.
The propaganda urging agitation for social equality may have every support under the law and under what ought to be human justice, but while fortified by what ought to be, it flies in the face of what is....
The blacks form less than 10 per cent of the population of the United States. They have less than one-tenth of a ghost of a show if the relations between white and black become bitterly hostile. The average black man and the average white man get along fairly well. Unless something happens to arouse their race prejudices and instincts they live by tolerance which may not be a solution of race difficulties, but it is a method of life and it is practical.
There is plenty of evidence just now that something is raising the race question. There is evidence, it is said, to support the story that agents had played on the imagination and ignorance of Negroes in Arkansas inciting them to arise against the whites and take their lands. Agitators have tried to excite the blacks. Some misguided sentimentalists have tried to organize whites and blacks for the compulsory recognition of social equality—a propaganda which is even more vicious than the red propaganda. There are numerous elements and factors of disorder, and the consequences already have been bad....
The position of the Negro is not a preferred one in American society. The Negro is at an economic disadvantage. He is needed in the South and has been brought into the North to meet labor emergencies, but he does not have an open field of work. These disadvantages cannot be removed by discussing them. They exist in race instincts and, along with the other disadvantages which the Negro meets, arise from causes not at the control of the reasoning faculties.
No sensible person imagines that he knows what to do about the race problem because he does not know a method of eradicating race instincts, and he would not want to eradicate them if he knew how. A person may know what will surely happen if the race instincts become inflamed and not have the slightest idea how to prevent contact from flaming into violent action.
We know that if it comes to violence the blacks will get the worst of it. We know that the situation as it exists now has many possibilities of danger. Both North and South have had enough violence. Both may have more. Communities may not be able to stop agitation or effectively to counteract it, but they can see that the processes of law are applied with severity.
Law strong enough to make the races live in peace will allow them to find their own ways of living in the same communities.
Chicago Evening Post.—The Post is an afternoon paper. It does not carry a large amount of news on racial matters. The policy of this paper was thus expressed by the managing editor, Mr. Julian Mason:
We have always checked information very carefully because we have had a very close Negro sympathy for years and because we have had editorial writers who have had special contacts. For instance, during the race riots we were constantly in communication with a young Negro, Mr. Jackson, a Y.M.C.A. man, a fine man. We checked up with him every single day. We used to call up Mr. Barnett and some of the others.
We use the word "Negro" and the Negro dialect in what you call feature stories. I don't know why we should deprive American life of that flavor. We also use the word "darky" once in a while in a humorous sense, but not in news items.
The Associated Press.—Mr. Edgar T. Cutter, district manager, Western District, the Associated Press, said in his testimony before the Commission:
The Associated Press is a non-money-making, non-sectarian, non-political organization. It is made up of over 1,260 daily papers. It is a mutual organization, and it gets its news by an exchange among the members. Aside from that, in big cities like Chicago we have our own bureaus which collect news in certain events. In Chicago the Associated Press gets its news from the five daily papers that are members, and from the city news bureau. This city news bureau, by the way, is kept up by the Chicago papers and therefore is supervised by them and carries the same class of news. Now on a big story such as the race riots, the Associated Press got its news from all these sources, and it also sent a staff man who was experienced in general newspaper work to the South to investigate for himself so we should get the absolute facts. The Associated Press makes a practice of covering only news of general interest, and it has made its reputation on the covering of facts. It never handles editorials, nor does it ever make a comment on any news. If a piece of news is not of general interest, at least throughout the state, it doesn't attempt to handle it. It confines itself to news that is of general interest throughout the country, and therefore it covers these matters very briefly.
Question: Do you personally in your representative capacity handle any of the news from the southern states?
Mr. Cutter: Only as it passes through here. Each district passes on its own news, but we verify it if it ever appears to be incorrect. But any item that reflects upon any person or upon any organization, even if we get it from our own newspapers, is first checked up to its source, if that is at all possible, and then if there is a matter of controversy and only one side has been stated, we always try to get a statement from the other side, from some head official. In case of Negro news, we have many times had as our representatives leading Negroes. Negro organizations have come into our office and we have solicited news from them....
In cases of lynchings and such things from the South, the Associated Press often has used twenty-five or fifty words and just let it pass with the mere fact. Where we have covered crime in full, big cases, very often it has been upon the demand of the members of the organizations.
News concerning Negroes is handled just the same as any news of any nationality. We use the words, "Negro" and "colored." And it is always the desire of the Associated Press and the attempt of the Associated Press not only not to injure any person but to show the proper respect to all religions, races, and all classes of society. It makes no difference whether we would capitalize the word "Negro" or not. Our copy goes to the newspaper and, as Mr. Lawson says, they follow their own ideas in that....
In all of our services we attempt to suppress news that we think might stir up race relations involving Japanese, Mexicans, Negroes, or any others, and we follow the lead of newspapers.
Question: What is the extent to which news from these members of the Associated Press is verified when it comes from regions or localities where there may be prejudice?
Mr. Cutter: Wherever there is any question of the news or wherever there are two sides, as in the labor question, we send a staff man out from headquarters who makes his reputation and that of the Associated Press upon covering both sides of the story equally. He knows very readily that if he doesn't cover that with thorough fairness, he is going to hear from it later from one side or the other.
Chicago American.—Mr. William H. Curley, managing editor of the Chicago American, gave the following information:
Of course as to accuracy, we check that up the same as we do any item. We find out where the item came from; if it is a police item we find out who is responsible for it and send reporters immediately to cover it and rely upon them for accuracy regarding the report.
Question: Let me ask whether you do that with the same care and precision that you do in the case of a white man that is involved.
Mr. Curley: Absolutely.
Question: That is no insinuation against the newspapers, but, for instance, it is said that in the courts, if a man is a colored man he doesn't have the same thoughtful care that a man has if he is a white man.
Mr. Curley: A good many items, of course, come from the City Press that supplies all the newspapers. If it is a matter that is trivial, of course a newspaper won't send a special reporter but relies upon the City Press for accuracy. In a crime story we eliminate the word "Negro" unless there is some reason for it. We don't use any of the terms, "darky," "nigger," "coon," "shine," "wench," or "negress."
Question: Do you get news unsolicited regarding Negroes any more than other persons?
Mr. Curley: We don't take any news that comes in over the telephone without checking it.
Question: Regarding items coming from the South, is there any particular care or checking used to see whether they are true stories, trustworthy or not?
Mr. Curley: You have to take that as it comes because that is your news service. In other words, they are supposed to use their care down there the same as we do here. We have to rely on that.
Chicago Daily News.—
Mr. Lawson: Sources of information are the same as in the case of other news, and in addition matter originally in Negroes' own publications, bulletins of welfare organizations, etc. Generally speaking, it may be said that more news on this subject comes from outside sources such as telephone tips and correspondence than from members of the staff. Perhaps 10 per cent comes from the Associated Press. This is an arbitrary estimate. The same methods are used to determine the accuracy of news concerning the Negroes that are used under other circumstances. The Daily News does not publish any news except after determining its accuracy to the best of its ability. No special reporter may be said to be assigned to news of Negroes, but owing to his special study of the conditions in Chicago, however, Carl Sandburg is on occasion called into consultation or assigned a topic for investigation. I may say that years ago the Negro poet Dunbar was a reporter on the News.
Negro news is received from the Associated Press in the same manner as other news. It is not often re-written, and then only when the subject-matter is local to Chicago. Headlines are written to conform to the text of the article. The Daily News is in touch with very reliable and well-informed Negroes in whom, because of long experience, it has confidence. It obtains information from them and seeks their viewpoint on serious matters. We regard items describing constructive work by the Negroes or items indicating their advancement as better news than articles indicating degradation or criminality on their part. The Daily News endeavors to appeal to all readers alike.
Chicago Tribune.—The following is taken from the replies in the questionnaire returned by Mr. Joseph M. Patterson, editor of the Chicago Tribune:
The sources of Negro news are the same as sources of other news. Some comes from the staff; some from the City News Bureau. Some of the local news concerning Negroes comes from reporters. No news of any consequence is received by telephone or correspondence. The Associated Press treats it on the same basis as other news. To insure accuracy the usual methods of inquiry are employed. However, most of this news comes from responsible news bureaus. Articles are re-written but only for condensation. During the threatened race riot the aid of leading Negro newspapers was sought to check information on serious matters. Each item is judged on its merits.
Among the considerations which have been urged by Negroes as making necessary the establishment of the Negro press are:
1. The indifference of white newspapers to the Negro group, their emphasis on the unfortunately spectacular, and the consequent loss of items of interest among Negroes throughout the country.
2. The importance of developing the morale of the Negro group, creating a solidarity of interest and purpose for measures of defense, correcting the impressions created by general opinion, and centering the attention of Negroes upon themselves and their destiny. There has never been sufficient capital for the adequate development of the Negro press. The purpose, however, has been served of collecting items of interest from all sections of the country, although they lack the facilities of so efficient an agency as the Associated Press.
For a time practically all of the northern Negro newspapers fell under the condemnation of the United States Attorney-General's office.[91] They were accused of radicalism and incitation to violence. Frequent criticisms of the Negro press declare it dangerous to the interests of cordial race relations. Ex-President Taft in the Philadelphia Ledger said: "The editors of the colored press should be reasoned with to cease publishing articles, however true, having inciting effect."
Commenting on criticisms of this kind, Isaac Fisher, editor of the Fisk University News, said:
Since the Washington and Chicago riots, the colored newspapers have been bitterly arraigned in some quarters for being responsible for race hatred. But the singular part of the indictment is that these papers are not accused of "falsifying" the record, but of stating the grounds of the Negro's resentment; and there is growing up a school of thought which argues that the colored papers should refrain from publishing as news any facts, even though true, which serve to increase the bitterness of the colored people against the white people. The comments made by those who charge the Negro press with being the cause of race antagonism are unanimous in interpreting as "incendiary" all statements of facts whose bare recital makes the Negro discontented with present conditions.
It should also be noted that the charge of inciting to race hatred is laid against the Negro press specifically for the period which has followed the end of the late war; whereas the charge of inciting white people to wrath against the Negro is an old one which has been repeated again and again during the past thirty years.
But, while the Negro press is not as old as the white press and cannot possibly be charged with having "been on the job" quite so long, it is true, nevertheless, that some of its members have cast all prudence to the winds since the signing of the armistice, and have entered a mad race with the most "yellow" of yellow white journals in vitriolic race attacks, in this case upon all white people, in the attempt to meet the "yellow" white press more than half way.
Whatever the relative degree of culpability, "yellow" journalism is as reprehensible when supported by a part of the Negro press as it is when upheld by a part of the white press. The Negro might just as well learn now the lesson which the white man must learn if he would save the civilization which he has been laboring so long to perfect, i.e., that one's color and race do not excuse wrongdoing. If it is wrong for a white newspaper to make white people hate colored people, how can it be right for a Negro newspaper to make colored people hate white people?
The news items in Negro papers show a bias in reporting the opposite of that of many white papers. They emphasize the Negro's view, frequently to the point of distorting fact. If anything, they might be said to provide a compensatory interpretation of the news. The three Negro newspapers selected for study mentioned and briefly characterized in the foregoing pages will show a classification of news items appearing during a forty-week period.
In addition to general news items concerning Negroes, the Defender gave one page to sporting news, one page to theatrical news, two pages to personal news items sent in by correspondents in other cities, and one page to local personal items. On its editorial page two and one-half columns each week were devoted to health articles by Dr. Wilberforce Williams.
The Whip gave one page to sports, one to theatrical news and organization articles, one to out-of-town personal news items and one to local personal items. Its editorial page devoted one column to "Legal Hints to Women," one-half column to "Health Hints," one column to "Legal Catechism," and two columns to editorials from other papers.
The Searchlight gave one page to theatrical, local personal news, and church notes. The editorial page contained two half-columns each week by "The Man about Town."