News Items About Negroes in White Urban and Rural Newspapers IRA B

Home , Houston Press, The Beaumont Enterprise

Reprinted from the Journal of Negro Education, April, 1935

News Items About Negroes in White Urban and Rural Newspapers IRA B. BRYANT, JR.

PURPOSE OF THE INVESTIGATION phasize news that places the Negro in The purpose of this investigation is an unfavorable light. Unfortunately, to show the general characteristics many whites get their only impression of the Negro news items that appear of Negro life through the press. Cer- in the white urban and rural news- tainly, if the Negro is played up as papers of Texas, and to determine being ignorant, without high stand- what customs, traditions and com- ards, dishonest, and inherently anti- munity mores are reflected through social, definite attitudes will be formed the newspapers of a particular locality in regard to him by the white readers in regard to Negroes. Further, this and will in time become convention- investigation is to show by com- alized and customary. So different lo- parison the difference in the methods calities present different problems, of writing Negro news in the white and therefore afford an opportunity urban and rural papers, and to de- for different solutions. The common termine if the Negro's political status •problem as it has been expressed by bears any relation to the methods of Wolfe, "is the mutual, social, in- presenting Negro news that might ap- dustrial and political adjustment upon pear in the columns of the news- the same soil of two races between papers. whom the difference in color is perhaps the most superficial of the dis- Since the coming of the Negro to tinctions which divide them."1 Far America in 1619, numerous social more fundamental than the difference problems have arisen from the at- in color is the desire to develop and tempted adjustment of the two groups maintain social caste and group dis- (white and Negro) in the same en- tinction. vironment. Various sections of the country have their race problems, but The caste system had its origin dur- the problem seems far more acute in ing the period of slavery when an at- the South than in other sections of the tempt was made to fix permanently country. This condition may be due the status of the Negro in the social to the fact that, in 1920, 85.1 per cent order of the South. Various means of of the total Negro population resided subjection were employed to obtain in this section of the country. In some this end. In his attempt to adjust sections of the country, the method himself to his strange environment, of solving the problem emphasizes and to a new culture, the Negro interracial cooperation; in others, an developed many peculiar character open vigorous policy of racial oppres- traits. The primary contacts of the sion is carried on. In still other sec- 1 A. B. Wolfe, Readings in Social Prob- tions, there is a tendency to em- lems, p. 677. 169 170 THE JOURNAL OF NEGRO EDUCATION two races during those days of slavery tive and designed as repressive meas- caused the Southern white people to ures "to keep the Negro in his place." form definite attitudes toward the This may or may not be the motive Negro. Many of the attitudes that of the newspapers in maintaining this originated during the period of slavery policy in printing Negro news but the are today customs accepted uncriti- methods employed by the Southern cally by the masses of Southern papers in presenting Negro news have white people. These customs or ves- developed characteristics which label tiges of a past culture are kept alive news items as Negro news. To isolate by the newspapers and other agencies these characteristics is one of the of communication. aims of this investigation. Thus, Negroes in general feel that the specifically, this investigation is con- newspaper is one of the means through cerned with the types of Negro news which these customs are passed on that appear most frequently, the from generation to generation, thereby characteristic style of describing the acting as an organ of propaganda for Negro, his manner of speech when he the system of social caste. Any at- is quoted; it will also attempt to de- tempt to show why some of the news- termine the difference, if any, in the papers of Texas have adopted a char- treatment of news items concerning acteristic style in the presentation of the professional and non-professional Negro news has been purposely Negro. In addition, the study will avoided in this investigation. Rather, tabulate the frequency of such refer- an attempt is being made to present ences and usages as the use of the the facts that appear and set off news Negro's first name instead of the sur- as Negro news. name ; the reference to the Negro man There are a number of widespread as "boy" and the identification of stereotypes about the Negro's traits Negroes by such terms as "nigger," of character entertained by Southern "darky," and "dusky." white people. Some of the more com- To some these usages may appear mon beliefs concerning the Negro's inconsequential for the most part. traits of character are that he is But Moton has expressed the pre- habitually a criminal, that he is shift- vailing opinion among Negroes when less, superstitious, happy-go-lucky, he says: "They are gravels in the childish, excitable, mentally inferior, Negro's shoe, small in size but capable lazy, immoral and unmoral.2 It is of inflicting great discomfort and im- thought that these beliefs which are peding progress."3 Furthermore, those reflected from time to time in the who have lived and travelled in the local newspapers differ from com- Southland will no doubt understand munity to community, being de- the significant part played by such pendent upon local differences in ex- apparently inconsequential customs perience and customs. Negroes think in the general relationships of the that the expressions of these beliefs races. Moreover, those who follow the through newspapers are subtle in mo- Southern newspapers will probably 2 K. Young, Source Book for Social 3 E. R. Moton, What the Negro Thinks, Psychology, p. 516. p. 5- NEGRO NEWS IN WHITE NEWSPAPERS 171 agree that while the customs therein the attempt to curb the steady flow depicted may differ, the general of rural Negroes to the urban centers. method of disseminating them is much It is not the purpose of this study to the same. There are some papers, evaluate this theory, but rather to however, that do not make a general point out by comparison the differ- practice of presenting the Negroes ences in the methods of writing Negro who appear in their columns in an un- news by the urban and rural news- favorable light, but on the contrary, papers of Texas. carry a large amount of news pertain- The final phase of the problem ing to the cultural activities of Ne- with which this investigation will be groes. It appears likely that the concerned will be the comparison of policies of these papers may be af- the methods of writing Negro news fected by the improved political and appearing in the newspapers of today occupational status of the Negro in with the methods of writing Negro these cities and communities. It is one news that appeared in the newspapers of the aims of this study to test this of twenty years ago (1912). The sig- hypothesis. So this investigation will nificance of this problem lies in the not be confined to the types of news conclusions reached in determining that picture the Negro as having un- the difference in the methods of writ- desirable character traits, but will ing Negro news by the Texas white also include those types which depict newspapers of these periods. The com- policies of tolerance and good will. parison of these groups of papers There appears to be a noticeable should indicate one of three trends: difference in the methods of writing That the policy of the white papers of Negro news in the urban and rural today in presenting Negro news has white newspapers of Texas. The urban become more liberal than the papers newspapers, for the most part, seem of twenty years ago; or that the white to have adopted a characteristic man- papers of today are less liberal in ner in the presentation of Negro their treatment than the early papers; news, in playing up the Negro's anti- or that the papers of today do not in- social behavior, and in presenting dicate that a noticeable change in the Negro news items which reflect atti- methods of writing Negro news has tudes of contempt of whites toward taken place during this period. Negroes and also a feeling of superi- The major problems of this in- ority in their relationship with the vestigation, then, will be: First, what Negro. On the other hand, while are the types and characteristics of some of these characteristics are com- Negro news items that appear in the mon to the rural papers, the general urban and rural white newspapers of policy of the rural papers seems to Texas? Second, is the method of writ- promote racial cooperation and good ing Negro news affected by the Ne- will. In Negro circles numerous theo- gro's political status and occupational retical reasons are offered to explain status in his community? Third, is the cooperation that exists between there a noticeable difference in the the Southern rural whites and rural methods of presenting Negro news Negroes. Chief among these reasons is that appears in the urban and rural 172 THE JOURNAL OF NEGRO EDUCATION newspapers of Texas? Fourth, are the selected were as follows: the Austin methods of writing Negro news ap- Statesman, the Beaumont Enterprise, pearing in the white papers of today the Fort Worth Record, the Galveston any different from that which ap- News, the Houston Chronicle, the peared in the papers of twenty years Houston Press, the Houston Post, the ago (1912). San Antonio Express, the Ballinger Ledger, and the Cuero Daily Star. GENERAL PROCEDURE During the period of investigation, The data for this investigation were 918 current newspapers were ex- secured from twenty-eight news- amined, and all items concerning the papers, sixteen urban and twelve Negro were classified under one of rural, covering a period of thirty and two headings, primary and second- sixty days respectively.4 Each of the ary. Primary, in this investigation following urban papers was selected designates those items in which the on the basis of its circulation and of Negro appears to be the principal the city population. The papers were: character or one of the principal char- The Austin American, the Beaumont acters. By secondary is meant those Enterprise, the Dallas News, the Dal- items in which the Negro appears las Dispatch, the El Paso Herald, the only incidentally in the event dis- El Paso Times, the Fort Worth Star- cussed. The 468 urban papers yielded Telegram, the Fort Worth Press, the 597 primary and 70 secondary items. Galveston News, the Houston Chron- The 450 rural papers yielded 220 icle, the Houston Press, the Houston primary and 17 secondary items. The Post, the Port Arthur News, the San classification further revealed that the Antonio Express, the San Antonio news items could be divided into Light, and the Waco News. The cities three main divisions, social, anti- were located so as to represent the social and neutral. Anti-social news different geographic sections of the included all news that pertained to state. The twelve rural papers were criminal offenses. The term "social" selected on the basis of community is applied to those news items con- population (the limit was not to ex- cerned with the activities of indi- ceed 5,000)5 and the density of Negro viduals, organizations, and institu- population. The following papers were tions relating to constructive subjects selected: The Athens Review, the Bal- such as education, arts, business, or linger Ledger, the Bay City Tribune, sports. The term "neutral" is applied the Caldwell News, the Commerce to those news items that could not be Journal, the Cuero Record, the Dal- placed in the social or anti-social hart Texan, the Edinburg Review, the categories, such as records of births, Lampasas Leader, the Marshall Mes- human interest stories, and news of a senger, the Timpson Times, and the general nature. San Jacinto Times from Coldspring, Texas. The papers of 1912 that were TYPES AND METHODS OF WRITING NEGRO NEWS 4 February and March—1932. During the period of investigation 5 The Marshall Messenger is an excep- tion. the urban papers yielded 2,523 inches NEGRO NEWS IN WHITE NEWSPAPERS 173 of Negro news, while the rural papers be amiss to conclude in the light of yielded 1,092 inches of Negro news. these figures that the constant play- This amount did not include paid ad- ing up of these types of news by the vertisement. The significant" differ- urban and rural papers may cause ence between the types of news that such beliefs to be formed concerning appeared in the urban and rural the Negro's traits of character as: papers concerning Negroes lies in the that Negroes are morally weak; that quantity of social news as compared they have a natural disposition to with the quantity of anti-social news. sexual crimes and crimes of violence; The space devoted to anti-social news that they are naturally addicted to items comprised 84.4 per cent of all petty thefts and emotionality. Negro items appearing in the urban The phase of the investigation deal- papers against 12.8 per cent in the ing with the methods of writing social category and 6.6 per cent neu- Negro news revealed that there are tral. On the other hand, the rural certain characteristics peculiar to papers devoted 24.5 per cent of the Negro news items, namely the racial total space given to Negro news to identification of the principal char-

Urban:

Rural:

Figure 1.—The Amount of Space Given to Anti-Social, Social and Neutral News in the Urban and Rural Papers.

that of his cultural activities, and acter in the headlines; the frequent 59.8 per cent to that of an anti- use of the Negro's first name instead social nature, and 15.7 per cent neu- of the surname; picturing Negroes tral, as shown in Figure 1. The aver- as using a dialect and the omission age percentage of anti-social and of the titles of Mr., Mrs., and Miss social news was 78.3 and 13.1 per in connection with the names of cent, respectively, for each urban Negro men and women. This phase of paper. For each rural paper the aver- the investigation also pointed out age percentage of anti-social and the use of the terms "nigger," social news was 62.8 and 30.6 re- "darky" and "dusky" by the papers spectively. Seventy-one per cent of studied. Much space was given to the anti-social Negro news in the items that might substantiate the be- urban papers could be grouped under liefs among Southern white people the following classifications: Attacks that Negroes are superstitious, simple, on women, liquor charges, thefts, ignorant, childish, clown-like, sincere robberies, and murders. More than 67 believers in the power of a rabbit's per cent of the anti-social news in the foot, voodoo and fortune tellers of rural papers could be grouped under the most absurd type. The chief ob- the same classifications. It would not jections to items attempting to reflect 174 THE JOURNAL OF NEGRO EDUCATION such characteristics has been that the placed undue emphasis on certain white papers have made these traits anti-social activities of the Negro, racial rather than individual marks. such as robbery, attack, theft and murder, while this same classification THE EFFECT OF THE NEGRO'S shows that the Galveston News only POLITICAL STATUS ON emphasized to a great extent one type NEGRO NEWS of anti-social news, which was murder. To determine the effect of the However, the police records indicate Negro's political status on the types a close similarity in the per cent of and methods of writing Negro news, arrests during this same period. Other two papers were selected for investi- types of anti-social news appeared to gation. They were the Galveston News have been well balanced as to the and the Houston Chronicle published amount of space devoted to each. The in cities whose geographic location types of news that appeared in the and population compositions appear Galveston News was undoubtedly af- quite similar, the chief difference be- fected by the appearance of the pro-

Houston Chronicle: Galveston News:

Figure 2.—The Amount of Space Given to the Negro's Anti-Social and Social News in The Houston Chronicle and Galveston News. ing the franchisement in one (Galves- fessional Negro in the columns of this ton) and the disfranchisement of the paper. Negro in the other (Houston). Figure It was possible in some of the news 2 presents a comparative picture of items to determine if the Negro was the amount of social and anti-social a professional or non-professional. Negro news that appeared in these This condition did not obtain in all papers during this investigation. Fig- of the items. There are only 228 ure 2 indicates that of the 159 professional Negroes in the city of column inches devoted to Negro news Galveston,8 which is only 19.6 per items by the Galveston News, 36.4 per cent of the professional Negroes in cent of the total was given to the Houston; yet ten times more profes- Negro's social activities and 58.4 per sional Negroes appeared in the news cent and 5.2 per cent were devoted items of the Galveston News than in to anti-social and neutral respectively. the news items of the Houston On the other hand, The Houston Chronicle. There are 1,161 professional Chronicle devoted 344 column inches Negroes in Houston, yet the ac- to Negro news items, but only 7.2 per tivities of only five of this group cent of this space was concerned with made news material for this paper. social news while 86.9 per cent and The fact that the professional 6.9 per cent were given to anti-social Negroes of Houston do not appear in and neutral items. the news items of the white papers, The classification of the news items 8 U.S. Census—Texas Population Bulle- indicated that the Houston Chronicle tin 1930. NEGRO NEWS IN WHITE NEWSPAPERS 175 while not surprising, may be due to brious were not found to be used in the following factors: First, since the the Galveston paper very frequently. Negro is not actively engaged in On the other hand, in the Houston politics there are no recognized polit- Chronicle the term "nigger" was used ical leaders who might place local four times while "darky" appeared issues before the race; second, the twice. These figures might suggest Houston Negroes put forth little ef- that the Galveston paper is more fort to get their activities in the white considerate of its Negro patronage papers, since there are three Negro than the Chronicle. If this is true, weeklies available. it is significant in that newspaper Both of these papers, like other competition is much keener in Hous- Southern papers are prone to identify ton than in Galveston. The Houston the principal character of the news Negroes have their choice of three items concerning the Negro by em- white dailies and three Negro weeklies phasizing his racial identity in the while the Negroes of Galveston have headlines of the item. It was inter- only one white daily and one Negro esting to note that the Galveston weekly, but in spite of this fact, the paper identified the Negro in some Houston white dailies refer to the instances by using the term colored Negro in terms of "nigger," "darky" which was not used by the Houston "boy," "dusky," "big burly" and Chronicle. It was further observed other terms with a much greater fre- that the Galveston paper did not re- quency than the Galveston paper. It veal a single instance where the is significant to observe that the Negro was referred to by his first Negro woman appeared in the Gal- name, while the Houston Chronicle re- veston News ten times, but not once ferred to Negro men and women was she referred to as a "negress." On by their first names in 39 instances. the other hand, the Negro woman ap- The use of the terms, Mr., Mrs., peared in the Houston Chronicle and Miss, when referring to Negroes twelve times and was referred to as a is not customary in the South. Thus "negress" in nine instances. the use of the terms occurred in It is probable that much of the only three instances in all the urban data presented in comparing the papers investigated and two of these methods of writing Negro news by instances may be accounted for in these papers may be due to chance the Galveston News. The use of these but comparing the newspapers as a terms was probably offset by the whole, it was interesting to note that Galveston News with the use of pro- the contrast between the treatment fessional titles which occurred in con- of Negro news by five papers taken nection with the Negro's name in from three cities, where Negroes are ten instances. The Houston Chronicle disfranchised, and eleven papers pub- did not use either of the terms, Mr., lished in seven cities, where Negroes Mrs. and Miss, or a professional title are permitted to participate in the in connection with names of Negroes. election of local officials, is even more The use of the terms "nigger," striking than that which was pointed "dusky" and "darky" which are con- out in the Galveston News and the sidered in Negro circles as oppro- Houston Chronicle. The investigation 176 THE JOURNAL OF NEGRO EDUCATION revealed that the five papers, taken ice.7 The percentage of Negroes en- from the cities where Negroes are gaged in the first seven of these oc- not permitted to vote in the city cupations varies considerably, being elections, are more likely to make use affected by the geographical location of opprobrious references than news- of the city. But it can be easily ob- papers published in cities where the served from Table I that .the percent- Negro participates in the local elec- TABLE I tion. The data suggest that the papers THE PERCENTAGE OF NEGRO WORKERS published in cities where the Negro is TEN YEARS OF AGE AND OVER EN- GAGED IN DOMESTIC AND permitted to vote are attempting to PERSONAL SERVICE promote a policy of good-will and friendly relations between the races City Per Cent by minimizing the use of "customary" Austin 47.5 references to Negroes who appear in Beaumont 30.6 their columns. Dallas 43.5 El Paso 39.4 Fort Worth 40.4 THE INFLUENCE OF THE NEGRO'S Galveston 33.3 OCCUPATIONAL STATUS AND NUM- Houston 34.7 Port Arthur 36.9 BER IN THE TOTAL POPU- San Antonio 78.0 LATION ON NEGRO Waco 51.6 NEWS age of Negroes engaged in domestic An attempt was made to determine and personal service in each of these the possibilities of the Negro's oc- cities is surprisingly alike. Domestic cupational status and the number of and personal service includes butlers, Negroes in the total population of a waiters, cooks, maids, chauffeurs, city or town affecting the types and yard-men, laundresses and others treatment of Negro news. Conclu- engaged in household duties. As sions were drawn from general deduc- these figures clearly show, a large per- tions, based on an analysis of the centage of the Negroes in these cities Negro's occupation in the cities and are employed in this field. Any group towns from which papers were taken, that earns its living as a servant to during this investigation. The Negroes another is generally treated as an in- in the urban centers are engaged in ferior group as a whole by the dom- a large variety of occupations, with inant group. Especially are those who an overwhelmingly large number oc- hire themselves as domestic and per- cupied at menial tasks listed under the sonal servants accorded the treatment classification of common and semi- of boys and girls. The customs formed skilled labor. A large percentage of out of conditions of this kind are gen- Negro workers are engaged in the erally expected to be reflected in the following eight occupations: building newspapers and other agencies of industry, manufacturing, transporta- communication. These facts suggest tion-communication, steam and street that the Negroes of these cities are railroad work, chemical and allied economically at the mercy of the industries, wholesale and retail trade white people since they own no (porters and delivery), slaughter and 7 U.S. Bureau of Census—Texas Popula- packing, and domestic personal serv- tion Bulletin 1930. NEGRO NEWS IN WHITE NEWSPAPERS 177 factories and control no banks. Since of Negro news is a fairly widespread this is true, it is evident that most of idea that the policy of the white the jobs held by the Negroes of these newspapers is directly affected by cities are controlled by white people the number of Negroes in the com- and the Negro is in no position to munity. If the number of Negroes is demand fairer treatment from the large the repressive measures are newspapers. stringent and the lines of segregation The greater percentage of rural are more numerous. On the other Negroes are engaged in agriculture. hand, if the number of Negroes in This condition probably affects the the community is small in proportion type of news appearing in the rural to that of the whites, the Negroes newspapers concerning Negroes. To are allowed more freedom, are hardly be sure, the rural Negro is not segregated at all and their activities economically independent, as many that make news are for the most part Negro farmers fall in the tenant class no different from those of any other rather than in the land-owning class.8 racial group. It is probable that the Even so, he is less dependent eco- general relationship between the races nomically than the urban Negro. As (Negro and white) in a city or com- an agriculturist the rural Negro be- munity is affected by the number of comes a producer rather than a job Negroes in the total population but seeker, and therefore he is not a keen the data of the investigation do not industrial competitor of the white support the theory. man as the urban Negro. These conditions therefore lessen the necessity METHODS OF WRITING NEGRO NEWS of prejudicing the public mind against BY THE PAPERS OF 1912 the Negro. No data were available as Previous data indicate that the to the percentage of rural Negroes en- treatment of Negro news by the gaged in domestic and personal serv- white press is colored with definite ice. The general types of occupations characteristics that label news items in which the rural Negro is engaged as Negro news. These characteristics does not suggest that he is in a posi- suggest certain community customs tion to demand any courtesies from prevalent among white readers. A the rural newspaper. But the differ- common belief among Negro leaders ence in the type and treatment of the is that the characteristics depicting news in the rural and urban papers unfavorable policies of the Texas concerning the Negro perhaps lies white press toward Negroes have de- in the fact that the present practices creased with the years, and if the are used to curb certain social de- general policy of the press was prop- velopments that tend to threaten the erly measured, it would probably existing social order, while as yet show that a slow but steady change these conditions are unfamiliar to has taken place, for the better, in the rural life. methods of writing Negro news. In- Among the multiplicity of factors sufficient data would probably pre- that influence the type and treatment clude an investigation of this type in Texas, especially in chronological 8 E. B. Reuter -The American Race Problem, p. 235. order. 178 THE JOURNAL OF NEGRO EDUCATION

This phase of the investigation was it is difficult to determine conclusively concerned with the following points: whether or not there has been any first, racial identity in headlines; change in the methods of writing second, use of the Negro's first name; Negro news by either the urban third, the use of proper titles; Mr., or rural papers in the short span of Mrs. and Miss; fourth, "negress" and twenty years. However, the data other reference to Negro. It appears suggest that, while the newspapers from the investigation of the 270 of this period, for the most part, papers (1912) that the policy of carry the same usages, there are evi- labelling Negro news items with the dences that indicate the slow de- principal character's racial identity is velopment of a better spirit in the much the same as the policy of the general treatment of Negro news by papers of today (1932) with the ex- the white papers of today. The non- ception that the newspapers of 1912 use of the term "darky" in the head- used the term "darky" in the headlines, and the fact that the terms lines when referring to Negroes. Al- "wench" and "senegambians" (used though the term "darky" was used as in the papers of 1912) were not used a term of racial identification in in the current items studied are sig- several news items in the current nificant changes that have taken place papers, it was not used in the head- in the last twenty years. lines. The practice of referring to Negroes by their first names instead RECOMMENDATIONS of their surnames appeared to have been more frequent in the newspapers The conclusions reached on the of twenty years ago than in the papers basis of the data gathered for this in- of today. The newspapers of 1912 as vestigation suggest the following: the papers of today yielded no evi- First, that the white newspapers of dences of the tendency of addressing Texas make an effort to adequately Negroes who appeared in their col- present the social activities of Negroes umns by their proper titles, Mr., Mrs. as well as the anti-social. This will and Miss. Another practice of the go a long way toward the promotion papers of 1912 that appears to be on of good will and cooperation that the decline is the use of the term should exist between the white and "negress" when referring to Negro Negro races. Second, that the white women. The Negro woman was men- press of Texas discard the use of of- tioned 63 times, 44.4 per cent of the fensive references when referring to time she was referred to as a "negress." Negroes who appear in their columns. The current urban and rural papers These references are distasteful to used the term "negress" in 31 per their Negro patronage. Third, that cent of the total number of times the the Texas white papers employ at Negro woman was mentioned. These least one Negro reporter to cover the data indicate that the difference in activities of Negroes. Fourth, that the methods of writing Negro news the Negroes of Texas make an effort by the Texas press twenty years to place their social activities before ago and the Texas press today is very the white reader through the columns slight. Since social changes are slow, of white dailies.