Black newspapers and the Black public sphere: The utility of cartoons in the context of World War II

Abstract

Black newspapers have historically played an important role within the African American community, reaching preeminence during the World War II era. Embodied in the Double V Campaign, they sought victories for democracy both at home and abroad. In analyzing two different types of cartoons—etiquette cartoons and political cartoons—present within a local Black newspaper during the war and post-war period, this analysis illustrates how World War II-era Black newspapers informed racial formation processes at multiple levels by targeting structural inequalities and advising interpersonal behavior. Specifically, these cartoons prescribed behaviors for public conduct, child rearing, and gender/sexual relations upheld by respectability politics. Such esthetic and discursive mechanisms illuminate the structural and ideological terrains constituting the Black counterpublic as well as guideposts for challenging and navigating the dominant racial discourse.