Richmond planet. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1883-1938, 1919-08-16
CHARGE SOUTHERN ANTI NEGRO
PROPAGANDA IN RIOTS.
Statement by James Weldon johnson
Field Secretary of tho National
Association for the Advances
mcnt of Colorcu People.

There has been for a number Of
years we'll directed propaganda,
issuing principally from the South,
which has had as hts purpose plac
ing the brand of rapiSt on the Negro
race. This propaganda has been
partly successful in eStat
fishing in the public mind the idea
that there is the direct relation OF
cause and effect between rape and
mob violence against the Negro.
Whenever the Negro protests
against lynching, nearly all southern
newspapers and n great many north
ern newspapers call upon him to de
precatc the crime which leads TO
lynching. Tho authentic statistics OH
lynching prove the falSchood OH
which this propaganda is based.
In the twenty years down TO 1908
there were 1885 Negroes lynchcd In
the Southern States. or that num-
Der rape was assigned as the cause
in only 675 cases. In 1910 cases 9th
er causes were assigned.
In the past thirty years fifty Nc
gro women have been lynchcd. In
the past twelve months five Negro
women have been lynchcd.
In the fivc-ycar period, 1914 1918,
264 Negroes were lynched in the
United States exclusive of those kill
cd at East St. Louis and out Of this
number rape was assigned rs the
cause in only rs cases.
Contrast these records, bad as they
may appear, with the records for
New York, County which is only q
part OF New York City and wo lind
that in this ono county in the single
year of 1917, $50 persons were indict
for rape by the Grand Jury. OF this
number 81 were indicted for rape IN
the first degree. That is, in just q
part of New York City degree was
nine more than the total number Of
persons indicted for rape in the first
charge of rape in the entire United
States during the period OF 1914-191S.
Among these 81 persons indicted by
the New York County Grand Jury
there was not d single Negro. The
OF New York County to indict per
son charged with rape must be more
conclusive than the evidence requir
ed by q mob to lynch q Negro accus
ed of rape.
WueU luc SOu6IcSSlOuuI SOhiMiI-
tee on immigration in 1911 made its
study Of crime in the United States
an Investigation was made Of 1882
cases in the New York Court Of Gen
eral Sessions and in that investiga
tion it WAS found that the percentage
for the crime Of rape was lower for
the Negro than for either the foreign
born or native born whites. The act
ual figures were, for foreign born
whites 1.8; for native born whites.
s.: and for Negroes g.
The echoes from the Washington
riots are q present illustra&ion Of
how this propaganda against the Ne
gro works. The newspapers have
been filled with attacks on white wo
mon as an excuse for the riots and
these attacks on white women arc
now being used by southern papers
as an excuse and justification for
the first acts Of the white mob.
A retired Judge Of the Superior
Court of North Carolina, writing ON
the Washington riots In the Whining
ton Dispatch, speaks OF Negroes seiz
ing automobiles and riding and snort
ing through the streets Of Washing
ton while the raping went merrily
on" What are the facts!
According to the data Of Major
Pullman, Chief Of Police Of Washing
ton, there took place in tho District
of Columbia bewteen juno rs, 1919
and the outbreak of the riot one case
Of rape and three cases of attempted
rape. The first case Of attempt was
on "a colored school teacher. In three
of these cases the suspect was one
man and he was in Jail when the
riots broke out. No publicity vas Civ
en- to the fact that five weeks before
tho riots, two white men, motor
man and a conductor on = street car
attempted rape upon two colored
girls who were the only passengers
in the car when it reached the end
Of the line. These two men are now
under heavy bail.
repeat that there is a direct plan
of propaganda on the part OF the
South to brand the Negro with be-
ing rapist in order that he may
be robbed OF all sympathy and pub
lie interest when he is lynched and
mobbcd. Tho truth is, tho Negro is
not more addicted, and Is perhaps
less addicted to rape than any 9TH
or group in the country.