A very rare 1933 Press Car pass issued for upstart "Negro" weekly in Detroit, the Detroit Tribune. It lasted only one year. The pass would have been put in the reporter's car and allowed the person access to a crime scene, trial, etc.,
Detroit had already long-been a city full of racial and ethnic contention. Many in the black community felt they needed an independent voice since leaders in industry, influential leaders in the church, and leaders in the police could not be trusted to tell their story without prejudice.
Detroit had already long-been a city full of racial and ethnic contention. Many in the black community felt they needed an independent voice since leaders in industry, influential leaders in the church, and leaders in the police could not be trusted to tell their story without prejudice.
*Just two years earlier, in 1931, Adolph Hitler called Henry Ford* his inspiration, and Hitler kept a framed photograph of Ford in his office. Ford took time out of his schedule to publish a magazine that was anti-Jewish, and to a lesser extent anti-immigrant, and anti-black for 8 years straight; it had a distribution of 700,000 copies per issue.
Ford's paper was certainly most critical of Jewish people. His relationship to immigrants and black employees was more complex. He paid equally, but also utilized power over black employees, who had few options at the time. He pit them against the potential unionization of white employees, etc., Many on reflection see him not as a civil rights champion, but as a person who understood the power he gained from giving small and limited amounts of power to the black community.
As time went on, Ford hired spies to work specifically inside the community of his black workers. As black workers began to engage in workers' rights movements, Ford became decidedly less amiable toward them.
*During the 1930's, perhaps the most influential Catholic priest in America was Detroit-based, Father Charles Coughlin, a Nazi sympathizer. Approximately 25% of the entire American population tuned into him each week. He supported the Spanish dictator, Francisco Franco, as well as Mussolini in Italy and Hitler in Germany. He is perhaps the most influential overt Nationalist / Fascist in American history.
*At the same time, the National Headquarters for the Black Legion was in Detroit. Never heard of it? They started out as the paramilitary wing of the Ku Klux Klan. As the KKK became more open to immigrants, it stopped being quite racist enough for the Legion; they broke off, headquartered in Detroit, and were deemed a terrorist organization by the Federal Government.
The Police Chief at the time, Charles McMillan, was a member of the Black Legion, as were many of the beat cops** throughout the city.
A moving little piece of ephemera and Detroit history. It had been glued to a cupboard shelf as a liner in Detroit. Worn, awkwardly repaired.
.
.
.
*We are aware that there are those who view Ford as a champion of Civil Rights; that history can be tough to sort out.
**And yes, absolutely some of the best people in the world and some of the finest people I know are or have been police officers. Not intended in any way as an anti-police statement.