African American Foreign Correspondents: A History

7. Getting the Inside Information: The Italian-Ethiopian War

[ 7 ] Getting the Inside Information The Italian-Ethiopian War The 1930s had barely begun when Tafari Makonnen was crowned Haile Selassie , emperor of Ethiopia. The country had a rich history that dated back more than two thousand years, and Selassie claimed direct descent from King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba. His ascent in the independent black state was a source of pride for blacks’ psyche. Black editors viewed coverage of Ethiopia as their duty and often ran front-page stories on it, as well as letters from people who supported the African nation. A Chicago Defender story with an Addis Ababa dateline blared on October 25, 1930, “Abyssinia Ready for Coronation.”1 The Pittsburgh Courier also had its own “inside story” on the coronation, thanks to correspondent Joel Augustus Rogers, who had been freelancing from abroad since 1923.2 Five years after the historic coronation, Ethiopia struggled to maintain its sovereignty. In October 1935, the fascist government of Italy’s Benito Mussolini invaded Ethiopia. That event took African American foreign correspondence to a new level as the Associated Negro Press (ANP) news service, the Chicago Defender, and the Pittsburgh Courier brought firsthand coverage of the war to their readers. In fact, the Courier became the first African American newspaper to send a foreign correspondent. “I am in this historic, ancient city [Cairo] tonight . . . and I’m getting inside information direct from the war zone, which gives a different slant to this Ethiopian-Italian war,” Rogers reported in November 1935.3 As Italian troops advanced on Addis Ababa on October 3, Western powers refused to impose more than the mildest economic sanctions against Italy. France and Great Britain were far more concerned with the burgeoning threat posed by Hitler’s Germany than with the Italian invasion of Ethiopia. European powers feared that a harsh admonition of Italian aggression might alienate Mussolini and prevent his signing of the collective security pact upon which they depended to counter the German threat. 92 african american foreign correspondents Haile Selassie petitioned the League of Nations for support but was met with a tepid response. Because Selassie was suspicious of the European powers whose colonies surrounded Ethiopia, he sought the intervention of a disinterested power, the United States. But America’s policy of isolationism and nonintervention precluded its involvement. President Franklin D. Roosevelt ignored the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People’s (NAACP’s) appeal that he and the State Department condemn Italy’s aggression , cease issuing loans to Italy, and stop selling Italian war bonds.4 Assured of free rein in Ethiopia, Mussolini embarked upon a campaign of indiscriminate violence to subdue the African state. Italian troops employed all the weaponry of modern warfare, including poison gases. African Americans roundly condemned Italian aggression in Ethiopia and rallied around the Ethiopian issue. Black newspapers universally supported Ethiopia and “dismissed Italian claims as fascist fabrications.”5 Thanks to growing subscriptions and advertising, the black press, which had long depended on subsidies from political parties, could speak more freely. Before the war began, The Afro-American had sent William Jones, editor of its Philadelphia edition, to cover the proceedings at the League of Nations . A story on September 14, 1935, reported Ethiopia’s resolve to protect its sovereignty if the League of Nations failed to act on its behalf. Two weeks later, Jones filed a story stating that Ethiopia’s foreign minister had told the league the country would not bow to Italy’s ultimatum that it be colonized. The National Urban League and the NAACP published pro-Ethiopian articles in their magazines, and Ethiopian relief organizations raised funds to support the country. Two black American aviators, Col. John C. “Johnny” Robinson and Hubert Julian, went to Ethiopia to defend the African state. Ultimately, however, blacks’ impact on the war proved almost negligible. The Great Depression limited African American support. The Justice Department’s threat to revoke the citizenship of any American who enlisted in Selassie’s army further curbed black involvement with Ethiopia. The ANP Tries to Get a Head Start The ANP tried to obtain coverage from Africa, but lacked the means to send reporters there. Col. Robinson sent stories that ran under the byline Wilson James. Nancy Cunard, the British socialite whose parents had disinherited her because she associated with blacks, also filed stories about the conflict. In February 1935, Claude Barnett asked Malaka Bayen to translate news of interest [3.145.23.123] Project MUSE (2024-04-16 18:17...