Comics History is American History (and Racial History)

I often make the case that comics are an archive of the American experience. Still, the complexities around that reality are sometimes to fully understand. This segment from the American Experience recent documentary on William Randolph Hearst does a great job of leading us through the impact of newspaper comics in the 1890s. The term yellow journalism we know is connected to the Hogan’s Alley comic, but this segment really captures the impact of visual storytelling on an emerging consumer urban culture in the United States.

I think they could have said more about the constructed nature of race at this time. Indeed, many Americans who rallied to the message of war with Cuba at this time did not realize the Cuban population was black. Instead, a vision of a “white” Cuba victimized by Spain was a central part of the visual narrative leading to the war. This assumption offered further justification for war, but also led to unforeseen political and social consequences once the United States won the war. Many Americans were shocked to realize the majority of Cuban were of African descent and seeking to impose the same Jim Crow ideology on conquered land is well documented. I think we can say more about these images, but more importantly, I think the inherent uncertainty around race in the United States means there are more stories to be told about counterpublics created using comics to promote a wider view of the identity, community, and power at this time.