Getting Respect from the San Diego Press

1 Number 2 January 2012 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Getting Respect from the San Diego Press The San Diego NAACP was instrumental in persuading the local press to refrain from using racially insulting language and illustrations in its publications. In the late 1800s and early 1900s it was not uncommon to have African Americans referred to in the local news media by first name only, simply as "Aunt" or "Uncle," or a combination of both, for example "Uncle Tiberius" or "Aunt Cleo" or Nigger Dick.” The N-word was prevalent, but typically it appeared when someone was being quoted and was not a term deliberately inserted in an article to attack or demean blacks. However, there were some exceptions. Racial jokes and ethnic stereotypes and the everyday language of people pertaining to race filled these newspapers, hence San Diegans were accustomed to reading advertisements for “nigger chasers” (fireworks), “nigger babies” (licorice candy), and “nigger brown” (fashionable dress color); mention of popular plays and songs titled “Nigger Rich,” “Poor Nigger,” “The Darkies‟ Delight,” “Our Little Niggers,” “All Coons Look Alike To Me,” “The Pickaninny and the Watermelon,” and “Coontown Divorcons”; animals and pets called “Nigger” (cats and dogs), “Old Nigger” (horse owned by the Fire Department), “Nigger” the bear cub, and “Nigger Baby” (a prize-winning race horse); locations such as “Nigger Canyon,” “Nigger Jack Slough,” “Nigger Hill,” “Nigger Nate Grade” on Palomar Mountain, and “Nigger” gold mine in Julian; and other casual racist terminologies like “nigger mammies” in a masquerade party, a harbor yacht called “Nigger Boy,” “nigger shooter” (sling shot), “niggerhead” (cactus plant), and “nigger toes” (Brazil nuts). By far the most repeated offensive term in these local publications was “nigger in the wood pile” (a variation was used in a newspaper political advertisement above). In this era blacks were mostly Republicans and they received more respect in the area's largest Republican newspaper, the San Diego Union. Though they represented less than 2 percent of the county‟s population they were vocal, formed political clubs, and their vote was sought by politicians. But this apparently meant nothing to the owners of the San Diego Evening Tribune (including merchant and real estate developer Frederick Kimball, photo right) whose bigotry was unrelenting. Its 2 headlines screamed: “Bad Nigger Bragged” (1897), “A Bad Nigger Shot” (1900), “A Lucky Nigger” (1900), “Yellow Niggers Sent Back” (reference to deported Filipinos, 1901), and, worst of all, “Niggers Ripe For The Stake,” a front page story that relished the thought of lynching two black men at large in Georgia who were suspected of murdering a white woman and her child. And it was not until 1901 when the newspaper was bought out by the revered entrepreneur- philanthropist John D. Spreckels that the stream of hateful language subsided. One method the San Diego NAACP used to encourage civil discourse and racial tolerance was to periodically congratulate the press when it took the high ground. For instance, in 1919 Walter L. McDonald (photo right), the branch's articulate founding Secretary, had his letter published to the San Diego Evening Tribune commending it for an editorial challenging the prejudice of whites. It read in part: “Upon the newspapers of the country rests the bulk of responsibility of educating the public mind standard where hatred, on account of race or color, will be unknown. Your method of reasoning or „cross examination‟ is a far more logical way of educating than pages of facts concerning the loyalty, bravery in war or political fealty of the negro. Hoping to read more of your „cross examinations‟ at frequent intervals.” Similarly, in the aftermath of countless stories of the lynching of blacks across the nation, in 1933 McDonald, while serving another term as branch secretary, had his letter published praising editorials in the San Diego Union that condemned the horrifying lynching of two white men in San Jose. Citing his affiliation with the San Diego NAACP which had issued a formal resolution regarding the incident, he wrote: “It is very heartening to have your valuable paper champion the cause of law and order after reading the shameful statements of our governor, mayor and councilmen.” In 1929 NAACP headquarters launched a national campaign to persuade the American press to capitalize “Negro.” Unlike the New York Times which made the change from “negro” to “Negro” in early 1930, the San Diego Union and The San Diego Evening Tribune didn‟t make the switch until 1934. Another persuasive weapon the branch had to mitigate racial stereotyping and hate speech in the local press during its first quarter century was its influential white officers and members who had access to centers of power and could work behind the scenes to effect change, among them the branch‟s second president, Superior Court Judge Alfred Haines (left), a Harvard-educated liberal who was born in Pennsylvania and had fought in the Civil War; and board member Superior Court Judge S. M. Marsh (right), a former 3 Wisconsin State Senator and banker. Other important white allies in these early years were branch board members Adele M. Outcalt, school principal and the city‟s PTA president; deputy state labor commissioner Stanley M. Gue; and Helen Marston (right), wife of the eminent businessman-philanthropist George W. Marston, a member and founder; and city Board of Education member Lena P. Crouse. And among its due-paying members were James C. Byers, County Sheriff; bank president G. Aubrey Davidson; District Attorney Chester C. Kempley; County Clerk James B. McLees; City Treasurer Jack T. Millan: department store owner S. M. Bingham; and newspaper owner and editor William H. Porterfield. But there were some blacks who could not wait for gentle persuasion to reform the press. One such person was Helen Snow, the mother of a 4-year-old boy who was photographed without her permission eating a watermelon. In July 1929 the photo was featured in the San Diego Sun with the unbelievably insensitive caption: "Pickaninny Paradise--Rastus Submarines First Watermelon." Outraged, Ms. Snow filed a $5,000 lawsuit against the newspaper charging it invaded her child's privacy and subjected him to humiliation. Black Babies on Parade It may seem a bit quaint to us today but during the late 1920s and early 1930s one fundraising gimmick NAACP headquarters promoted, and for awhile was quite successful in San Diego, was baby contests. The branch was encouraged to follow certain guidelines that had made these contests popular elsewhere and even sent in an experienced advisor from Los Angeles to make sure the locals didn't screw things up. The first of these branch-sponsored events occurred in 4 1929, but the most publicized one happened on June 29, 1930 included a float along a parade route led by motorcycle cops from 29th Street and Imperial Avenue to 28th Street and Clay Avenue. The San Diego Union covered the event and under the headline “Negro Babies Strut Their Stuff Before Judges in Annual Parade,” reported that several hundred people witnessed 35 kids ages 3 to 10 stroll up to the grandstand on the grounds of Memorial Junior High School where judges awarded prizes for the cutest and most cleverly dressed. A city councilman was in attendance and a Fox Movie-Tone cameraman was on hand to snap photos for national distribution. Of course, all of the branch officials were there and they welcomed the $312.50 earned for the branch that sunny day. Member Profile: Aaron L. Brown One of the delights of perusing the early branch membership rosters is discovering individuals who have been long forgotten but who were well known to many or even famous when they were alive. One such branch member was Aaron L. Brown. At first, it appeared that his main significance here was that he was the founder in 1917 of the city‟s first African American Boy Scout troop (Troop 16) which he led for several years. By 1923 he was a correspondent (city editor) for the California Eagle) and in 1927 he was elected treasurer of the black Republican club called the Douglass League. But additional research revealed that prior to arriving in San Diego Aaron enjoyed a spectacular career as a prizefighter known internationally by his moniker, “The Dixie Kid” (photo left). Born in Missouri, in 1904 at age 21 he defeated Barbadian Joe Walcott in a 20-round bout in San Francisco to become World Welterweight Champion. After more than a hundred battles in the ring and squandering his wealth living the fast life in Europe he retired to San Diego, living quietly and working at odd jobs. Brown eventually left the area to live in Los Angeles (photo right) where, sadly, he slid into poverty and oblivion, his misfortune noticed two weeks after his death in April 1934 by admirers who tried to collect donations to give him a decent burial. Robert Fikes, Jr., Librarian San Diego State University .

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