The Threads of Corruption: A Semester's Journey Through Black Press History

Throughout the three papers I’ve written in my Multicultural Media History class, I’ve started to learn that history is bound to repeat itself each century with the difference being who’s named as the antagonist and who’s named the victims. The majority of my research this semester has all fallen in the same category of how government decisions impact the Black community whether it be from claiming their humanity back from their oppressors or advocating for historical community staples to stay in place. With this ongoing system of people of color criticizing their political leaders such as mayors, governors and even presidents, the Black community continued to receive the most backlash from both the leader and their supporters. The relationships between the government, business and media plays a major factor in which ways the country and citizens will function and live their everyday lives. Even though the United States isn't in the same capacity of corruption or dictatorship in comparison to other countries in the world, the U.S. government and law enforcement continued to oppress marginalized communities, specifically the Black community. With a country that has had a complicated history between Black and white Americans, there has been a superiority and inferiority dynamic between the two with the help of government corruption. Corruption or the spread of misinformation was orchestrated by the press to dehumanize Black Americans, specifically Black men, and put fear amongst white people and encourage harm on them with the backing of wealthy white business men and the government. 

The common thread between my papers was how corruption has helped push the ideologies of racial segregation between white and Black people in a variety of pathways such as schooling systems, career paths or living situations. Corruption or the spread of misinformation was at the hands of the press, government and business men to put fear into white Americans to while encouraging them to harm and even murder Black Americans.

Modern Educational Segregation in Boston

In my first paper, I spoke about the lack of Black owned and Black dedicated media outlets and publications in Boston. Boston, Massachusetts continues demographic segregation in public schools with the type of curriculum taught in public schools and closures of schools majority of Black and Hispanic students plan to attend based off of how close the school is to their home. Mayor Wu's 2023 proposal to move the John D. O’Bryant to West Roxbury was met with intense backlash. Critics argued the move would displace students from a majority-Black neighborhood to a predominantly white area with limited public transit access, severing cultural ties and reducing accessibility. After months of protests and civic engagement, Mayor Wu paused the plan, keeping the O’Bryant in its original location. While this reversal was seen as a victory for community advocacy, it highlighted ongoing concerns that Boston’s leadership does not fully prioritize culturally relevant spaces for students of color.

Boston Public Schools (BPS) has further heightened concerns through school closures and mergers. In 2024, BPS announced plans to close Excel High School, Denver Elementary, and Mary Lyon Pilot High School by the end of the 2025–2026 school year. The district also approved merging Roger Clap Elementary and John Withrop Elementary into Lilla G. Frederick Pilot Middle School, which had already been restructured. Mayor Wu and Superintendent Mary Skipper support these changes as part of a long-term facilities plan responding to a 13% drop in student enrollment since 2006. However, these closures disproportionately affect schools with high populations of Black, Latino, and high-needs students. Families and educators worry about the destabilizing effects, especially since BPS has yet to provide a clear plan for the impacted communities. 

Historical Press Manipulation and Racial Violence

The relationships between the U.S. government, business men and press has formed racial ideologies against Black Americans to keep the separation and power dynamic between white and Black people. In my second paper I spoke about the debate regarding the repatriation back to Africa and W.E.B. Du Bois’s stance on it. The relationships between the U.S. government, business men and press has formed racial ideologies against Black Americans to keep the separation and power dynamic between white and Black people. In “Southern Horrors: Lynch Law in All Its Phases,” in the section “The Malicious and Untruthful White Press,” Wells exposed the relationship between white wealthy business men and white publications with the inhuman treatment of newly freed African Americans. During this time period, the press had a major influence over the citizens of the United States, in the news that they produced they painted Black people, specifically Black men, as barbaric and savages. These publications fabricated accusations on Black men sexually assaulting white women installing this fear amongst white men and encouraging white men to lynch Black men. 

The historical manipulation at the expense of Black Americans reveals how the media played a crucial role in creating racial hierarchies. The press purposely platformed misinformation that benefited economic and political interests of white elites. The history of how white powerful men were able to manipulate the media exposes how neutral publications like newspapers were weaponized to deny Black Americans their humanity and their rights.

The Prison Industrial Complex and Modern Exploitation

The government tends to arrest more African Americans in comparison to white and Hispanic people. In my third paper I analyzed the film Civil Brand (2002) directed by Neema Barnette, Black women imprisoned at Whitehead Correctional Institute face a brutal prison system that uses abuse of power and exploitation to control all their female prisoners. A group of women behind bars give up their freedom and their lives to expose the same corrupted system that profits from their struggles. The movie portrays incarcerated Black women as victims of systematic oppression but also sets them up to be powerful agents of resistance, an oppressed group fighting back against their oppressor. According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, about 30,000 more people were put into state prisons which had those facilities 1% - 17% over capacity. In comparison, federal prisons were worse with being 33% over capacity, the data was broken up into different categories such as offense, gender, race, and Hispanic origin. Black men and women were a part of the majority of almost each category. In a 2017 essay written by Janaé Bonsu, “A Strike Against the New Jim Crow,” similarly mirrors Civil Brand’s critique on prison labor. Bonsu stated that prisoners were being treated as exploited workers and receiving little to no pay with working jobs such as cooking, clerical/janitorial work, laundry and agricultural work that keeps the prison operating. The government tends to arrest more African Americans in comparison to white and Hispanic people. The prison industrial complex system peaking around the early 2000s treated prisoners like exploited workers and got compared to slavery due to conditions and lack of payment the workers received. 

Addressing Counterarguments

Some may argue that government policies have changed over time and the media has strengthened their skills in order to limit bias towards specific sides when reporting information. There could be potential claims of how segregation in the United States doesn’t exist anymore or aren’t that widely known or publicized to call it segregation or a direct attack on a specific demographic of people. Racial bias doesn’t influence how the Black community is shaped and that the results of low education, poor housing and incarceration rates are due to personal decisions instead of picking on one community of people. However, the opposing view would only acknowledge surface level problems and not focusing on why power in these facilities continues to create racial divisions and inequalities in the country. With new policies and seeing more diverse representation in higher political positions, the balance is still unequal. Government officials and businesses still make choices that continue to affect people of color. From school closures to incarceration statistics showcased how these incidents are caused by systematic patterns that consistently puts the Black community at a disadvantage.

Conclusion: A Call to Action

All throughout history, the continuous cycle of corruption and racial inequality has seeped and adapted into new generations and systems. From the media manipulation of Black people from the post slavery time period to modern day school disadvantages and mass incarceration affecting Black families, each example shows how deeply connected race, power and government decisions remain relevant. The same government system that justified slavery, segregation and the murder of Black people continues to quietly showcase systematic bias and economic exploitation of people of color. Communities have to continue holding their political leaders accountable for all of their actions that negatively affect their communities. Everyone has a responsibility of using their platform to correct misinformation and create equality amongst all groups of people. The research I did for all three papers shows how the fighting against racial injustice isn’t solely correcting the past, it’s about recognizing and destroying these systems that practice ongoing oppression across multiple generations. With media literacy and accountability can slowly help break the cycle of corrupt systems and rebuild a respectable society where everyone can truly be viewed as equal.