Black History Month News coverage of race relations through the years shows shifts in reporting, commentary

Feb. 18—The Tribune-Democrat and its predecessors, The Johnstown Tribune and The Johnstown Democrat, have chronicled the history of race relations in the local area and across the United States since the 1800s.

Pages have been filled with national wire stories, local articles and editorials.

As part of ongoing Black History Month coverage, here is a look at how some historic events were presented to readers in the Johnstown region over the past century.

Aug. 30, 1923

A shootout occurred between Robert Young, a Black man, and law enforcement in Johnstown's Rosedale neighborhood. Young and four officers eventually died from their wounds.

The Johnstown Tribune referred to a "negro desperado" who by all accounts was drunk, angry and causing trouble as part of its detailed coverage the following day.

But, in the Sept. 1 evening edition, the incident was no longer above-the-fold news, replaced by stories concerning an earthquake in Japan, an anthracite coal conference, and tension between Italy and Greece.

Johnstown's mayor later issued an edict banishing Black and Mexican people who had not lived in the city for at least seven years.

The KKK responded by burning crosses on hillsides, which The Johnstown Democrat described as a "spectacular demonstration."

April 9, 1939

Marian Anderson, an accomplished Black singer, gave an Easter Sunday concert for 75,000 people gathered at the Lincoln Memorial.

She performed there after the Daughters of the American Revolution denied her permission to hold a show at DAR's Constitution Hall under its white-performers-only policy.

First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt championed an effort to have Anderson do the outdoor concert.

A wire service article in The Johnstown Democrat described Anderson as a "distinguished" singer with a "rich voice." It made brief reference to the DAR's rejection.

April 15, 1947

Jackie Robinson broke Major League Baseball's modern-era color barrier by playing his first game for the Brooklyn Dodgers.

A United Press International article pointed out that Robinson was unhappy with his performance, using the subhead "Dodgers' Negro Star Finds 'They Think Fast' In the Big Leagues." Robinson was quoted as saying, "They think an awful lot faster," only regarding the speed of play.

The reporter wrote that Robinson spoke "between the flashes of a piano-key smile" during his interview.

Robinson went on to have a Hall of Fame career. His No. 42 was retired across all of MLB.

May 17, 1954

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled, in the case of Brown v. Board of Education, that segregating schools on the basis of race was illegal.

A Tribune-Democrat editorial referred to the "inevitable" decision that "paves the way for a better and more prosperous South" and emphasized that desegregated schooling in the North had "demonstrated that there is no rational argument for educating Negro children in one school, and white children in another."

Aug. 28, 1963

The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. stood on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial and delivered one of the most important speeches in the nation's history when addressing a quarter-million supporters of the civil rights movement. His words "I have a dream" reverberated across the country.

But his soaring rhetoric received no special attention in The Associated Press articles picked up by The Tribune- Democrat. King's speech was only listed in a schedule of events for the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom.

Sept. 15, 1963

The Tribune-Democrat had an unequivocal editorial response to the bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama, carried out by Ku Klux Klan members, that killed four girls — Addie Mae Collins, Cynthia Wesley, Carole Robertson and Carol Denise McNair — and injured more than a dozen other people.

It described a "cold-blooded viciousness" that "has rarely been matched in the United States" and was "reminiscent of the mentality of Hitler's storm-troopers." The editorial writer summarized that "either the law stands supreme, or the nation falls into anarchy and chaos."

July 2, 1964

President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act that outlawed discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex or national origin in regards to employment, education and segregation in public places.

The Tribune-Democrat editorialized: "But more is needed than mere sullen acceptance of the new code. Its goal will not be won until that acceptance is voluntary and heartfelt. And this will come about only through reconciliation; not by the power of the law."

Feb. 21, 1965

Malcolm X, a voice of the Black empowerment movement, was assassinated in Manhattan's Audubon Ballroom. Associated Press articles referred to him as an "extremist," "fiery counselor of violence" and "rebel."

March 7-21, 1965

Civil rights advocates in Alabama planned a march from Selma to Montgomery to bring attention to their voter- registration campaign and the shooting death of Jimmie Lee Jackson, a young Black deacon, at the hands of a state trooper.

The first attempt resulted in "Bloody Sunday" as law enforcement officers and a deputized posse attacked marchers. Millions witnessed the violence on television.

Two days later, James Reeb, a white clergyman from Boston, was beaten by white supremacists. He died from his wounds.

From March 21 to 25, supporters marched from Selma to Montgomery. Around the same time, a sit-down took place at the White House and President Johnson introduced legislation that eventually became the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

National articles ran in The Tribune-Democrat on a regular basis.

The newspaper's editorial stated that the clergyman's death was caused by "gangsters in Selma" and that the sit-down "served no purpose, and detracted from the dignity of the cause they presumably thought they were aiding." The civil rights movement had "aroused emotions that could endanger the structure of the American government," and "the wisest and most mature direction and the subordination of erratic impulses" were needed, according to the piece.

April 4, 1968

King was assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee.

A Tribune-Democrat commentary started off stating, "A few days ago, this would have been an editorial denouncing mass protests for the temptation toward violence that lurks within them."

It further explained how the editorial would have questioned King's judgment, pointed out how his "noble quest for Negro equality along nonviolent avenues had wandered into tortured paths of violence" and stated that he was "partially responsible for the decay of once unadulterated nonviolent methods."

The seventh and eighth paragraphs read: "The editorial would have been purely critical. And the principle of all that would have been written remains valid."

Only then did the criticism end with the sentence: "But now that Dr. King is dead, the victim of lurking violence, tribute must be paid to, and remorse felt for, this man."

The author concluded that King "died for the just cause of the American Negro" and that the murder "ought to make everyone more tolerant of the fact that the Negro seeks only what is his — his American citizenship."

April 29-May 4, 1992Riots broke out in Los Angeles following the acquittal of four police officers in the beating of Rodney King, a Black motorist who led them on a high-speed chase and resisted arrest. The incident was captured on amateur video.

Protestors looted, blocked streets and set fires in response to the verdict.

The local editorial headline read: "Verdict outrageous; so is the violence."

The author concluded that "Mob injustice is no way to obtain justice."

Oct. 16, 1995

Minister Louis Farrakhan, along with several other organizations and individuals, hosted the Million Man March that brought together Black men with the goal of drawing attention to urban and minority issues.

The Tribune-Democrat's stance was not favorable. It ran a syndicated cartoon of Farrakhan saying "I have a scheme ..." in front of a shadowy Ku Klux Klan figure.

The newspaper's editorial read: "Black men commit a disproportionate amount of crime, even against other blacks. They shouldn't. There's no formula, no complicated method of achieving that goal. They should just stop.

"Black men father a disproportionate number of illegitimate babies. They should marry and take responsibility."

The conclusion was that if Farrakhan could accomplish what he set out to do, then his effort would be more successful than affirmative action, welfare and civil rights legislation.

Nov. 4, 2008

Barack Obama became the first Black president of the United States. His photo was the centerpiece art with the headline "Obama wins."

In the days that followed, the newspaper ran a national article about a surge in gun sales caused by some people thinking Democrats would take away their ability to buy weapons.

There was also a letter to the editor with the message, "Obama presidency could benefit our area." The author believed the region had an opportunity to "show the nation and the world that we have what it takes to lead and reap the benefits of the transformation that lies ahead."

May 25, 2020

An unarmed Black man, George Floyd, was killed by a Minneapolis police officer, a murder that was recorded by a private citizen. Demonstrations occurred across the nation, including in Johnstown — where approximately 500 people rallied in Central Park and marched throughout the streets.

Kirsten Vazquez, organizer of the local protest, said in The Tribune-Democrat that the goal was to "spread love instead of spreading the hate and the fear that has been being spread for too many years."

This list in no way is meant to be exhaustive.

Some events of great importance, such as Rosa Parks refusing to give up her bus seat, Emmett Till's open-casket funeral and the Greensboro Woolworth's lunch counter sit-in did not necessarily immediately garner much attention in small-town Pennsylvania. Movements such as Black Lives Matter, the Black Panther Party and the Nation of Islam evolved over time, as opposed to having definitive dates to research.

There were countless firsts and major accomplishments deserving of recognition — for example Thurgood Marshall joining the U.S. Supreme Court, Jesse Owens winning four gold medals, Col. Guion S. Bluford Jr. going into outer space aboard the Space Shuttle Challenger, Shirley Chisholm running for president in a major party, Doug Williams starting at quarterback in the Super Bowl, and "The Oprah Winfrey Show" being broadcast nationally.

Rather, these selected events provide a snapshot of certain moments in history and of evolving views on race relations.