Black Newspapers Banned and Burned in Southern States; Carriers Threatened

The Chicago Defender and other Black newspapers were banned in several Southern counties and towns where sheriffs threatened subscription carriers and newsstand owners with arrest or violence. Postmasters in some Southern towns refused to distribute issues. The papers' coverage of racial violence, migration opportunities, and political organizing was considered inflammatory. Pullman porters who smuggled papers South were threatened with termination. The suppression of Black press was an effort to control information within Black communities and prevent the spread of organizing ideas. Despite these barriers, Black newspapers circulated widely through informal networks.