This research examines the role of mainstream professional journalism during a critical first step in the construction of “Jim Crow North,” the web of anti-Black discriminatory systems that spread beyond the Jim Crow South in the early twentieth century. As Black migration to Baltimore accelerated, the Sunpapers—The Sun and The Evening Sun—framed news coverage to valorize white supremacy and justify racial segregation. Specifically, this research shows how the white newspapers repackaged tropes and stereotypes originated by former Confederate propagandists in their campaign against Reconstruction after the Civil War. It also shows how Black journalists and activists responded.
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