Comparison Of Mississippi And Texas Newspapers

One of the most powerful institutions is the media. Historically, media like newspapers had strong ties to the public, providing necessary context regarding opinions, key coalitions, and mobilization. This connection to the people allowed for a significant level of influence over them as well. Therefore, examining Mississippi and Texas newspapers, specifically how they reflect and influence greater state context, the formation of alliances, and various responses, is a solid method of comparing the two states’ contexts and coalitions during the Civil Rights Movement. Newspapers can first compare and understand the Civil Rights Movement by reflecting on overarching contexts. Generally, newspapers indicate broader social circumstances; they show

This is not present in Mississippi. Rather than openly connecting Black and white citizens and giving them a voice, The Blood of Emmett Till reveals that nearly every newspaper in the state sided against the Till case, and the Jackson Daily News and the Clarion-Ledger, both leading Mississippi papers, were strong segregationists. Such newspapers reveal a racially divided Mississippi and a racially connected Texas, allowing comparisons and an understanding of the differing social contexts impacting the Civil Rights Movement. Along with broader contexts, newspapers also reflect the presence of existing alliances in the movement. This becomes apparent when newspapers directly support and join with other groups. In Texas and Mississippi’s Civil Rights Movements, newspapers revealed the formation of multiracial coalitions. One of Mississippi’s few white liberal papers, Jackson’s Kudzu, stated that they wished “to ally [themselves] with unemployed and working class whites and with the black movement for liberation” (“Kudzu,” Mississippi

While newspapers reveal state-wide and coalition-specific contexts, they also influence and are influenced by these circumstances. This is apparent in newspapers’ ability to garner strong responses. After Kudzu started forming its desired coalition, the state’s police acted out; they arrested those handing out Kudzu copies at Callaway High School and raided homes of Kudzu staff. Although Kudzu influenced the state to respond, Mississippi’s context also influenced the fate of the newspaper. Without the status of a leading newspaper like the Houston Chronicle, and without the support of multiracial connections, the newspaper soon went out of business. In Texas, the Black newspaper SNAP News published scalding articles about a dangerous underpass in the predominantly-Mexicano San Antonio area. In a state so multiracially connected, however, the strong Black-Mexicano coalition of SNAP News thrived in this context, and it was able to influence the context in turn; the city council answered with a resolution to fix the underpass, improving this area of San