The press, race relations, and social change

Scholars from varying perspectives have suggested that discourse in media c ontent may play an important role in shaping and reinforcing perceptions of race relations, particularly among White Americans. However, there has bee n relatively little systematic consideration of whether and, if so, how dis course in the press has contributed over time to relations between Whites a nd Blacks. With this in mind, this research examined the racial ideologies present in coverage by 14 mainstream newspapers of U.S, supreme Court decis ions in 1883 and 1896 that allowed and then institutionalized "separate but equal" race relations. Findings suggest that discourse in the mainstream p ress encouraged racial values and attitudes that were simultaneously being institutionalized in several cultural arenas by social Darwinism, Booker T. Washington's accommodationism, and legalized segregation.