Darktown: Newspaper Coverage of Atlanta’s First Black Police, 1930–1960

Abstract

When the city of Atlanta hired its first Black police officers in 1948, the milestone was covered by the city’s Black newspaper, the Atlanta Daily World, and by the city’s mainstream newspapers, the morning Atlanta Constitution and the afternoon Atlanta Journal, but in starkly different ways. 1 This study explores what each newspaper omitted and included, and what each emphasized or otherwise deemed important, an examination that also seeks to draw attention to the many roles of the Black press beyond reporting the news. Special attention is given to the strategies and tactics used to argue for and against the Black patrols. Finally, these first Black hires and the newspaper coverage of the integration of Atlanta police are placed into historical context, one that juxtaposes shame and pride, degradation and achievement, fealty to Jim Crow and progress with respect to civil rights.