Springer Amber History 254 May 2, 2006 Professor Ellen Spears Media and Race Riots: Atlanta, Georgia (1906); Illinois (19081919); Tulsa, Oklahoma (1921); Detroit, Michigan (1943); Los Angeles, California (1965) The struggle for freedom and equality has existed for all of eternity. This struggle has since evolved into a fight. The term fight may or may not have physical connotation. But when did this fight turn into a series of riots. A riot is defined legally as a violent disturbance of the public peace by three or more persons assembled for a common purpose. Few riots have had a major effect on race relations in comparison to the number that have occurred in America. Race relations are directly connected to the media because media can influence race relations by the way the occurrences are reported. Media has had a major negative affect on race riots focusing on Atlanta, Georgia; Illinois; Tulsa, Oklahoma; Detroit, Michigan; and Los Angeles, California. It is obvious that race riots occur when there is a great deal of tension between races, but there are many other factors that contribute to the start of a race riot. It is necessary to understand the driving force behind race riots in order to prevent them from occurring in the future. On July 24, 2943 in response to the Detroit race riots,
Wendell L. Wilkie attributed race riots to "the same basic motivation as actuates the fascist mind." He then defines it as the "desire to deprive some of our citizens of their rightseconomic, civic or political." Years of this injustice would force any group of people to react violently. Although many riots have occurred since World War II, this paper will focus on a few that easily demonstrate the effect media has on race riots. It is no secret that race riots occurred but what are the reasons for these riots? Many issues and problems in society have been handled with violence, but riots are an extreme form of violence that never seems to solve anything. They do however force people to make changes to prevent more riots from occurring. Race riots occur when there is injustice, dissatisfaction and racism. "Riots are the products of thousands of little events that have affected the habits and emotions of thousands upon thousands of people, both future rioters and future innocent bystanders." (Race Riot pg .5) The media exploited the ignorance of the people concerning the riot. Many of the race riots were started by whites who were upset about the way blacks were beginning to gain independence from the laws and policies that were created to keep them at the mercy of the white men. Although they were started by whites, they were not called riots until blacks began to fight back. The emotional and physical effects of race riots are obvious, but there are also major effects on the economy. When whites were rioting through majority black
neighborhoods, they burned down many house as well as businesses. This was a time period where blacks were trying to gain a place in society that included wealth and not working difficult jobs for low pay. These businesses were very important to them and the white mobs knew this. An attempt at genocide was seen because in many occasions, there were plans for entire neighborhoods to be torched. An economic struggle that is not often researched is the struggle after the death of a family member. Many men were killed, leaving families to struggle to make small amounts of money support entire families. Douglas Kellner's article Cultural Studies, Multiculturalism, and Media Culture states "Radio, television, film and the products of media culture provide materials out of which we forge our very identities; our sense of selfhood; our notion of what it means to be male of female; our sense of class of ethnicity and race, of nationality, of sexuality; and of "us" and "them."" This quote emphasizes the deep extent to which media portrays our society. The article continues as he explains how media really does affect the way we all view the world. When riots occur, media uses these traumatic events as an opportunity to sell newspapers. While selling newspapers, they are also selling lies and giving people excuses to partake in ideologies that encourage ignorance. The works placed on display by the media are a direct representation of the occurrences and ideologies of the time in which it was published. Media is an outlet created to appeal to people's senses in order for certain parties to
make a monetary profit. Through the television, race has frequently been linked to the underclass, more specifically the working poor. The media makes riots more deadly by antagonizing parties participating in the riot. The riot that occurred in Atlanta, Georgia in 1906 was the result of media's negative portrayal of AfricanAmericans. The Atlanta riot was ignored for many years and there is much research being done currently to educate the nation on the terrible destruction that hailed the streets of Atlanta. David Fort Godshalk writes in his book Veiled Visions that in northern newspaper described the white mobs as "uncivilized" and the blacks as "savage" criminals. (Godshalk 2) This short sentence in the introduction of this book gives a brief summary to all things that began the riot as well as the things that were being portrayed all over the nation. Local newspapers in Atlanta recognized the power they held over the citizens. Journalists realized that most of what was placed on the front page of their newspapers would be seen as a fact and taken into consideration by most of the people. The riot in Atlanta started because of the way the newspapers were negatively portraying AfricanAmericans as criminals. On August 14, 1908, a black man was jailed for allegedly raping a local white woman and white mobs crowded around the jail. The mobs demanded that he and a man awaiting trial for the murder of a white engineer be handed over to be lynched. The prisoners had already sent them out of town for their safety. Southern press
criticized the riot that occurred in Springfield, Illinois by saying that the north also had a "Negro problem." The south was happy about this race riot in the north because of the Atlanta race riot that had occurred two years prior to the Springfield riot. Southern journalist took joy in the race wars in Illinois that occurred in 1908 and in 1917. The man in jail for murdering the white engineer, Joe James, was executed after being found guilty for the murder of Clergy Ballard. The newspapers enjoyed the fact that this incident between James and Ballard occurred in a very quiet, majority white neighborhood. The newspapers reported that black crime had ventured out of their place and into white suburbia. Newspapers called for the people to take revenge against the blacks. One newspaper said "If blood ever did cry out for vengeance, that of clergy Ballard's does." This is a direct call for whites to react with violence. When the Springfield riot occurred, the newspapers continued to report The riot in Springfield Illinois was the first of three major riots in Illinois from 19081919. In East St. Louis in 1917, white working men began to fear the advances that Negroes were making economically, politically and socially. They felt threatened and decided to take action against the up rise of blacks in their city. The Whites the in community held a town hall meeting and determined that their town must remain the town of a white man. They proceeded to riot and buildings were demolished. Many African Americans were attacked, beaten and killed.
During this riot on July 1, some Whites in a Ford drove through the district where most of the African American families lived and shot into homes. A police car reportedly drove through this same district to investigate the mysterious Ford. The police car was a Ford also and was mistaken for the same Ford that was driven by the White men. African American men pulled the White police officers out of their car and killed them. The next few days consisted of many different newspapers reporting this incident and angering the White community. African Americans were killed, stoned and many of their homes and business were torched. One death count estimates hundreds were killed. The story of the Chicago riot in 1919 is still very unclear. There are many different stories that are said to have begun the riot. Most of the stories include a young black men swimming in the white section of the swimming area. He grabbed onto a pole above the water and was reportedly stoned until he fell into the pool and drowned. The reports of these incidents in Chicago show the inconsistency of the media. It was reported that a total of 195 Whites were killed between July 27 and July 30. The actual number obtained as fact is 156 Whites were killed. While these numbers may not differ greatly, the number of AfricanAmerican's reported as killed is very different from the factual number. Newspapers reported that 172 African Americans were killed, when the number was really 283. This is a small example of
how the media can misinterpret the facts to make one party angry, while ignoring the feelings of the other party. When a White girl in Tulsa accused a Black youth of rape in the elevator of a public building, the youth was then arrested. Around June 1, 1921 armed Blacks came to the jail where the youth was imprisoned with the intent to protect him from the White mobs. There had been many other riots by this time and the Blacks were prepared for the possible attacks that may come from their White neighbors. There were rumors that the white mobs were ready to lynch the Black youth. A mob with over ten thousand Whites attacked the Black district. The media coverage of the Tulsa riot was somewhat different than that of other riots. The major national newspapers such as the New York Times were showing the Whites in Tulsa as cruel. The bad press about the city of Tulsa infuriated the Whites. The local newspapers shot back by writing disturbing articles about the Blacks in Tulsa. In the Tribune, Richard Lloyd Jones wrote many articles talking about what was called "Niggertown" and how this type of place should not be allowed in Tulsa. Ed Wheeler was a writer and a historian that did research on the Tulsa riots. He wrote an article that was published in the black Tulsa magazine Oklahoma Impact. His article was originally rejected by the white publications. This shows their effort to cover up the things they knew were wrong. His article recounted the interviews he
held with different people that experience the hatred brought by the Whites in this terrible riot. In Detroit, Michigan, Detroit Chief of Police Commissioner John H. Witherspoon concluded that he was morally satisfied with white riots (Lee, 21). His pride is the group of people destroying the community meant trouble for the African American people in Detroit. If a person with such an important job and high rankings in the police department chose the side of the White rioters, it is highly probable that a majority of the police department felt the same way. This explains why police weren't usually very willing to help when present during attacks by Whites on African Americans. On July 17, the prosecutor and commissioner "agreed that Negroes were responsible for the recent race rioting in the city."(Lee 21) An article in the New York Post criticized the police and the government officials. They did not correctly handle the riots by taking sides. The police had no desire to stop the riots, so they continued much longer than they should have. Although many newspapers made false reports and aided in the continuation of the riot, the White people had no problem expressing how they felt. They often made signs or found ways to write the hateful comments that degraded the African American people. August 11, 1965 changed the lives of Marquette, Ronald and Rena Frye as well as many other people living in Los Angeles, California. When the two Frye
brothers were pulled over by the police for drunk driving, an altercation occurred and the brothers were accused of fighting the police. Their mother came to the scene and was also arrested for fighting the police. The Watts riot was somewhat different. The event that started the Watts riot involved African Americans fighting the White police. Many of the reports show that the White police were simply doing their job, but the media still exaggerated the way the African American people were acting. There was already fear of African American people brutalizing Whites due to the way the media portrayed them and these acts of rebellion did not lessen their fears. Race riots cause fear in many people. This fear is already imbedded in the minds of both parties involved. For blacks there is a fear of a continued mistreatment by whites. This fear is masked by more violence and militancy. Whites become more afraid and implement more policies to oppress blacks. As humans with quick instincts, our first response to violence is usually violence or thoughts of violence. These are usually the thoughts of people in race riots. Riots do not allow any party to prosper. They are a violent way to get the voices of oppressed people heard and there has to be a better way to work out problems. The riots discussed are a small number in comparison to all of the riots that have occurred. In New Orleans, in 1866, a race riot occurred. It was interesting to find the way the newspapers portrayed a specific Black man. White publications called Robert Charles: "Monster," "an unreasoning brute," "cocaine fiend," "Woman beater," "Ruthless black butcher," and "bloodthirsty
champion of African supremacy." None of these were found to be true. This shows the extent of which the media can falsely portray one person as a criminal. Imagine how they are able to portray and entire race as a group of criminals.
Bibliography
Baulch, Vivian M. "The 1943 Detroit race riots." Rearview Mirror . 10 Apr 2006 <http://info.detnews.com/history/story/index.cfm?id=185&category=events> Chicago Commission on Race Relations. The Negro in Chicago. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1922. Hair, William Ivy. Carnival of Fury: Robert Charles and the New Orleans Race Riot of 1900. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1976. Godshalk, David Fort. Veiled Visions: The 1906 Atlanta Race Riot and the Reshaping of American Race Relations. Chapel Hill: The University of North Carolina Press, 2005. Madigan, Tim. The Burning: Massacre, Destruction, and the Tulsa Race Riot of 1921. New York: St. Martin's Press, 2001. Cohen, Jerry , and William S. Murphy. Burn, Baby, Burn. Toronto: Clark, Irwin and Company, 1966.