Walter F. White:  “U.S. Department of (White) Justice”

Audience

Walter White wrote this article for publication in The Crisis, the NAACP’s official monthly magazine. His immediate audience was the membership and supporters of the NAACP, including northern white liberals and other progressive allies. While this particular article appeared in an African American publication, White knew that it would also be quoted or reprinted in other newspapers and magazines. Earlier in his career, many white publications had refused to publish White’s articles on lynching. But by 1935 White had recruited influential white allies. Mainstream newspapers and magazines followed suit, publishing articles similar to this one.

Throughout his antilynching work, White firmly believed in the power of publicity and exposure. He hoped that his writing would rally African Americans to the antilynching crusade and shock the white majority out of its complacency. He also hoped that the article would cross the desks of government officials who, either out of embarrassment or goodwill, might take steps to force action on lynching.