Structural Violence in The Baltimore Sun’s Coverage of 1910 McCulloh Street
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Author/Creator
Author/Creator ORCID
Date
2018
Type of Work
Department
Center for Geographies of Justice - Peace Studies
Program
Bachelor's Degree
Citation of Original Publication
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Collection may be protected under Title 17 of the U.S. Copyright Law. To obtain information or permission to publish or reproduce, please contact the Goucher Special Collections & Archives at 410-337-6347 or email archives@goucher.edu.
Subjects
Abstract
Housing in Baltimore has had a long and complicated history of racist, exclusionary policies and practices. From intense racial segregation to redlining and blockbusting, both legal and social pressures have enforced a structurally violent system within the city. After reading historian and former Baltimore Sun writer Antero Pietila’s book “Not in My Neighborhood: How Bigotry Shaped a Great American City” I decided to focus this paper on a series of Baltimore Sun articles published in 1910. These articles narrate a historically white Baltimore neighborhood’s fierce reaction to an African American man moving in during the Jim Crow period. The racist language and obvious bias present in these articles demonstrates just how deeply the violent housing policies penetrated the lives of those involved. By studying and drawing attention to historically unjust instances like this one, we can both learn from the past and strive for future systems based on equity and respect rather than prejudice and exclusion.