07/23/2026
A Black train hand was killed by a white conductor in Pinewood, South Carolina.
But the headline did not center the killing.
Instead, it portrayed Black residents as threatening white citizens, turning Black outrage into the danger while reducing the death of a Black man to a few lines. The article also reported that after the conductor was arrested, white residents came to his aid. (Sound familiar?)
This is how racial violence was often framed in the press: the Black victim became secondary, while Black resistance became the threat.
Atlanta Age, January 13, 1900
What stands out to you most about the way this story was reported?
