Sodomy in Minnesota Newspapers

Sodomy cases do not typically contain very many details in their coverage. Occasionally a story may specify the race or nationality (ex. a Polander) of the assailant, but this is unusual. Out of thirty stories, there are only two that explicitly state the race of both the assailant and the victim. Both of these stories involve minorities as the attackers. While these stories may be brief, it is important to note that they truly are the only stories that mentioned race for both parties.

The first case is of an Afro-American man accused of sodomizing a seven-year-old white boy. Although the case seems to have been one of false accusation, the newspaper is quick to point out that the man would have likely been hung in the South even if found innocent. The Appeal, the newspaper in which this story appeared, was an African American newspaper and as such, had a different focus on this type of story than a white newspaper would have. The Appeal also creates a much more sympathetic light for the falsely accused man which would most likely not have occurred in other newspapers.

The second case is from the St. Paul Daily Globe, and was of an attempted sodomy by a Chinese man on an Italian teenager. Both parties would be considered well-known minorities during the late 1880s when the story was published. There are not many other details than a basic story, and the case hadn't gone to court yet. As such, it is not clear whether this case was another false accusation by a teenager or if the Chinese man truly did try to commit sodomy on the boy.