ERIC Number: ED205956
Record Type: Non-Journal
Publication Date: 1981-Aug
Pages: 38
Abstractor: N/A
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: N/A
The "Pittsburgh Courier's" Double V Campaign in 1942.
Washburn, Pat
In February 1942, a letter to the editor of the Pittsburgh "Courier," the nation's largest black owned newspaper, started the "Double V" (for victory at home and victory abroad) campaign, which stressed the right of blacks to have equality in the United States since they were fighting inequality abroad. As the "Courier" devoted a great deal of newspaper space to the campaign, the campaign was endorsed by many other black owned newspapers as well as by white owned papers and organizations. A content analysis shows, however, that the campaign was virtually dead by October 1942, which is significant because it was the first evidence that any black owned paper outside the South had cut back on the campaign and because the "Courier" had originated the campaign. One possible explanation for the gradually toned-down campaign of the "Courier" is that the war-time prosperity of middle class blacks demanded a movement that would conserve black progress rather than one that might undo it. Black men were being commissioned for the first time in the armed forces, and black men and women were being hired in large numbers at defense plants. The Double V campaign had accomplished all that it was able to accomplish. As the campaign began to decline, the "Courier" demonstrated its good faith by replacing campaign material with positive articles and picture layouts about black gains. (HTH)
Publication Type: Reports - Research; Speeches/Meeting Papers
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A