Assault in the Evening Journal, 1900 & 1920

In The Evening Journal language when reporting is important, especially when reporting a member involved is black. A pattern that was discovered was the use of language when reporting on a black individual in the year 1900 and the year 1920. 

In the year 1900, when reporting on an assault that involved a black individual the article would refer to the person as “colored.” This can be seen in the article “Held in Heavy Bail.” The article refers to both the offender and the victim as colored before going into detail about the crime and the fines given out.

In 1920, the paper switched the language used to refer to a black individual involved in the crime. The paper uses the term “negro(s)” to refer to a black individual with no sign of the term “colored” being used anywhere. The term negro was also used heavily in headlines, implying that using that term would drum up interest in readers to read the article, feeding more into the sensationalism that was explored during the legal stages. This headline use can be seen in the article “Heavy Fines for 4 Negros” and in the article “Negress Fined for Assaut, Appeals” showing that black women as well were subject to the language change.