1. It plays upon the popular belief that Negroes are naturally criminal.
2. The constant recounting of crimes of Negroes, always naming the race of the offender, effects an association of Negroes with criminality.
3. It frequently involves reference to sex matters which provides a powerful stimulant to public interest.
4. It provides sensational and sometimes amusing material, and at the same time fixes the crimes upon a group with supposed criminal traits.
The beliefs handed down through tradition concerning the weak moral character of Negroes and their emotional nature are thus constantly and steadily held before the public. Police officers, judges, and other public officials are similarly affected, consciously or unconsciously, by these beliefs and by the constant mention of Negroes in relation to crime. Arrest on suspicion, conviction on scanty evidence, and severe punishments are the results. A vicious circle is thus created.
Crimes involving only Negroes as offenders and victims receive little newspaper attention. It might be supposed that they are uninteresting because there is no element of race conflict. As long as crimes are committed within the group, and this group is regarded as an isolated appendix of the community, there is little public interest in them, and consequently little news value. When, however, a member of the isolated group comes into conflict with the community group, whether in industry, housing, or any relation, it assumes a wider significance, and the information appears to become news of importance in the judgment of the press.
Instances of purely Negro crime, which in the community at large would have a strong appeal to public interest, take on news value only when the ludicrous or grotesque can be pictured. For the most part, this type of article is written by a reporter with some reputation for wit. He inserts the expected Negro dialect, whether with or without warrant, and proceeds to make an amusing story.
Negro soldiers.—News interest in articles on Negro soldiers appears to be founded largely on sentiment. During the war Negro soldiers, especially from Illinois, were given unstinted praise by the public and the newspapers. Illustrative headlines follow:
Chicago Soldiers Are Ready
Col. Dennison Declared to Reporter That Regiment 1,038 Strong Ready for Call to War
Colored Men Served in the Colonial Army
Washington Favored Their Enlistment, but for a Time There Was Opposition