Mr. John Sengstacke, part owner and general manager of the Chicago Defender, one of the leading Negro newspapers (Photo Credit: Library of Congress).
We African Americans have these proverbs that, when uttered, are universally understood among us.
A well-known one is, “Keep the main thing, the main thing.”
Having the humbling honor of serving as the Managing Editor of The Chicago Defender, one of the most historic publications in the country, it is incumbent upon me to remain unwaveringly conscientious of how we report the news to our audience.
The Black Press: A Tradition Rooted in Resistance
Freedom’s Journal, Vol. 1 No. 1, March 16, 1827. Source: Library of Congress
When John Russwurm and Samuel Cornish founded Freedom’s Journal, the first African-American-owned and operated newspaper in the U.S., in 1827, its purpose was to empower and educate freed Black people. During its two-year existence, it spoke out against the practice of slavery and advocated for Black people’s political rights, including our right to vote.
As journalist and educator Nicole Carr pointed out, the Freedom’s Journal laid the blueprint for the Black Press’s ultimate mission: employing journalism for the benefit of Black people and highlighting injustices that ultimately affect a healthy democracy in this country.
When Robert S. Abbott founded The Chicago Defender nearly 120 years ago, it was in that same spirit: to give Black Americans a voice and to fight against racial discrimination.
So, in this spirit, I, the lead editorial staffer of The Defender, will continue to “keep the main thing, the main thing” or journalistically focus on the most important things and avoid distractions.
And the main thing at this moment is that, by the looks of it, we’re living in a very unhealthy democracy, especially with the last two weeks.
A Democracy in Crisis: The Stakes for Black America
Donald Trump. Public Domain Photo.
What we’re witnessing is the latent stage of a tyranny conducted by the freshly inaugurated President Donald Trump, who seems bent on attacking the things that provide people of color in this country their humanity, dignity, safety and well-being.
He has already attempted to end birthright citizenship, dismantle federal diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, cut federal jobs and try to freeze aid to programs vital to our most vulnerable residents, ones that so many Black people rely on, like Medicaid and Head Start. Let us also not forget his administration’s continued war on women’s reproductive and transgender rights.
Let us remember that in his first week, he tried to make the U.S. Air Force remove educational materials on the Tuskegee Airmen, the revered African-American pilots who fought against the German Air Force in World War II and received 850 medals for service and valor—an early example of the impact and ingenuity that DEI promises.
Judging by his actions and rhetoric, this President appears to be waging a cultural and economic war against all people in this country who are not white, Christian and heterosexual.
How Mainstream Media Failed Us
But how we got here could be laid at the feet of some notable mainstream media outlets, who, under the cloak of objectivity, failed to hold Trump accountable for his racist, hateful and harmful messaging and intent.
When the Washington Post, Los Angeles Times and USA Today, along with its 200-affiliate newspapers) neglected to endorse a Presidential nominee last Fall, they abandoned the essential duty of educating the public about who would best serve this country as president—the “main thing” about why journalism exists as the “fourth estate.”
When they had the opportunity to endorse the best candidate to become the 47th President, a Black and Indian woman with superior experience and qualifications, they stood quiet.
The DEI Backlash: A Distraction from the Real Threats
Mainstream media outlets, it seems, would rather amplify events that show Black people in a bad light.
Earlier this week, national publications like Fox News, the Daily Mail and the New York Post hastily splashed footage of the brawl at a Thornton Township meeting involving Tiffany Henyard across their sites. Admittedly, when I saw the fight footage on X posted by a WGN-TV reporter, I foolishly retweeted it on my personal account.
But what Fox News and the New York Post did by broadcasting that scuffle only served to bolster the outcry against diversity, equity, and inclusion, which aligns with the President’s motives to cast a negative light on ethnically diverse political leadership, especially when those people are Black and lead Democratic municipalities.
These outlets communicate to their mainstream audiences the stereotype that Black leadership is corrupt, incompetent and unfit. Reports of Henyard’s malfeasance notwithstanding, she doesn’t represent the totality of Black political leadership.
That video is what we call a diversion. This sideshow deflects from the “main thing” of what this anti-DEI rhetoric is all about: taking job opportunities and positions of power away from people of color, especially in politics and business.
They’re not the sorts of “Black jobs” that Trump and his supporters seemingly want for us.
And speaking of outlets that don’t “keep the main thing, the main thing” at the disservice of Black people, Fox News and the Post have a demonstrated history of peddling racist views and biased coverage to the detriment of us.
In 2009, the New York Post ran a cartoon by Sean Delonas that depicted two white police officers, one with a smoking gun, standing over a dead, bullet-riddled chimpanzee as the one cop says to the other, “They’ll have to find someone else to write the next stimulus bill.”
The primate was believed to indirectly reference former President Barack Obama, the first Black man to hold that office.
“That’s what they think of you,” is another African-American axiom I hear my father uttering when speaking about the stuff racists do and say about Black people.
But, in my eyes, it’s how the Black press thinks about and advocates for us.
Focusing on What Truly Matters
Ultimately, The Chicago Defender will continuously provide information that educates, empowers and gives Black people a voice. It’s what Mr. Russworm, Mr. Cornish, Mr. Abbott, Mrs. Ida B. Wells, and so many others before me would want.
So, rather than splash footage of that scuffle across our sites, we fixate on this President and how his moves impact us while sharing other stories that honor, uplift, educate and humanize Black people in Chicago and beyond.
By doing these, we will continue to do what our mainstream peers have not reliably done in service to us and the American democracy: “Keep the main thing, the main thing.”
This column marks the launch of #CD120, a year-long celebration of The Chicago Defender’s 120-year legacy.
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