The Press and Lynchings of African Americans
by Lucy Ray
In the mid 1930’s, newspapermen were trying to find out information about the lynching of a Black man in Emelle, Alabama, along with other slayings that had happened. Several of the white residents who witnessed the lynchings declined to talk to reporters from the Tuscaloosa News about what they had seen. "What the hell are you newspaper men doing here?" asked a White man who had been part of the vigilante group. "We're just killing a few negroes that we've waited too damn long about leaving for the buzzards. That's not news" (Raper, 1933, p. 67).
In an article written by Richard M. Perloff, Professor of Communication at Cleveland State University, titled, The Press and Lynchings of Black African Americans, Perloff talks about the sentiment expressed by many of the white residents and that lynchings were becoming more common place to the extent that they were not shocking to hear or read about. Between 1882 and 1968 there were close to 5,000 individuals that had been lynched. Seventy percent of the individuals lynched were Black and during the outbreak of lynchings between1889 and 1918 the percentage of Black individuals had risen to 78 percent.
For the most part, “the victims were either hung or burned to death by mobs of White vigilantes”( http://academic.csuohio.edu/perloffr/lynching) who performed these acts in front of a large group of spectators. Many of the onlookers participated in the unspeakable acts by taking pieces of the dead person’s body as a remembrance of the occasion.
News of lynchings did not have trouble being spread among the white population, thanks, in part, to the White American Press. The article goes on to say that although there has been adequate research done on the racial biases and scholarly investigations of the African American press during the late nineteenth century, there has not been the same kind of research that would lead to information about the way the American press examined and reported the lynchings that took place. The article would suggest that the journalism history textbooks do not provide an accurate account or information regarding the act of lynching during the late nineteenth century.
During the eruption of lynchings throughout the United States, newspapers provided the information explosion that provided readers with the gruesome accounts of the lynchings. The newspapers not only gave accounts of the killings that were going on in the local areas of the newspapers, but also included details about other lynchings that had occurred in other cities as well. The articles almost always described the victim as being Negro, and deserving of the crime for which he was convicted.
Occasionally the press would condemn the practice of lynchings in their newspapers when reporting about the crimes, offering a slight ray of hope that not all white Americans agreed with the practice. “Far from suppressing news about lynchings, newspapers embraced them, providing abundant, even graphic, coverage of vigilante violence” (academic.csuohio.edu).
It would take some time before the White media to express their views alongside the African American newspapers in reporting their disapproving view of lynching, but eventually it would be accomplished. Many White journalists would accept the views of the Black journalists, but not without some hesitation. The 20th century came into view with slow changes as far as how the press reported on lynchings that were racist in nature. Times were changing, however slowly.
Works Cited
"The Press and Lynchings of African Americans." The Press and Lynchings of African Americans. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 June 2013
by Lucy Ray
In the mid 1930’s, newspapermen were trying to find out information about the lynching of a Black man in Emelle, Alabama, along with other slayings that had happened. Several of the white residents who witnessed the lynchings declined to talk to reporters from the Tuscaloosa News about what they had seen. "What the hell are you newspaper men doing here?" asked a White man who had been part of the vigilante group. "We're just killing a few negroes that we've waited too damn long about leaving for the buzzards. That's not news" (Raper, 1933, p. 67).
In an article written by Richard M. Perloff, Professor of Communication at Cleveland State University, titled, The Press and Lynchings of Black African Americans, Perloff talks about the sentiment expressed by many of the white residents and that lynchings were becoming more common place to the extent that they were not shocking to hear or read about. Between 1882 and 1968 there were close to 5,000 individuals that had been lynched. Seventy percent of the individuals lynched were Black and during the outbreak of lynchings between1889 and 1918 the percentage of Black individuals had risen to 78 percent.
For the most part, “the victims were either hung or burned to death by mobs of White vigilantes”( http://academic.csuohio.edu/perloffr/lynching) who performed these acts in front of a large group of spectators. Many of the onlookers participated in the unspeakable acts by taking pieces of the dead person’s body as a remembrance of the occasion.
News of lynchings did not have trouble being spread among the white population, thanks, in part, to the White American Press. The article goes on to say that although there has been adequate research done on the racial biases and scholarly investigations of the African American press during the late nineteenth century, there has not been the same kind of research that would lead to information about the way the American press examined and reported the lynchings that took place. The article would suggest that the journalism history textbooks do not provide an accurate account or information regarding the act of lynching during the late nineteenth century.
During the eruption of lynchings throughout the United States, newspapers provided the information explosion that provided readers with the gruesome accounts of the lynchings. The newspapers not only gave accounts of the killings that were going on in the local areas of the newspapers, but also included details about other lynchings that had occurred in other cities as well. The articles almost always described the victim as being Negro, and deserving of the crime for which he was convicted.
Occasionally the press would condemn the practice of lynchings in their newspapers when reporting about the crimes, offering a slight ray of hope that not all white Americans agreed with the practice. “Far from suppressing news about lynchings, newspapers embraced them, providing abundant, even graphic, coverage of vigilante violence” (academic.csuohio.edu).
It would take some time before the White media to express their views alongside the African American newspapers in reporting their disapproving view of lynching, but eventually it would be accomplished. Many White journalists would accept the views of the Black journalists, but not without some hesitation. The 20th century came into view with slow changes as far as how the press reported on lynchings that were racist in nature. Times were changing, however slowly.
Works Cited
"The Press and Lynchings of African Americans." The Press and Lynchings of African Americans. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 June 2013