A Note on Race

A previous blog post discussed the potential subjective nature of newspapers in general and the Pike County News in particular.  That newspaper provided a consistent and probably accurate reflection of racial attitudes in eastern Kentucky in the early twentieth century.  The black population at that time was about double its current level.  Some were descendants of Kentucky slaveholders.  Others, of all origins, came in search of employment, which was plentiful. 

In reading the Pike County News, it quickly becomes evident that blacks were second class citizens, at best.  Whenever a story dealt with a black person, his or her race was always noted.  A headline of a story about a white person might say, "Man falls from train," for a black person it would say, "Negro falls from train."  The body of the story would identify a black person by saying either "John Doe, colored,..." or "John Doe, a negro...."