Circulating Jim Crow: The Saturday Evening Post and the War Against Black Modernity

The Saturday Evening Post, a popular magazine in the early twentieth century, was known for its Norman Rockwell covers depicting a wholesome and idyllic American way of life. However, under the direction of editor George Horace Lorimer, the magazine also helped justify racism and white supremacy by publishing works that perpetuated paternalistic tropes and demeaning humor. Circulating Jim Crow explores how the Post used stereotypical dialect fiction to promulgate white supremacist ideology and dismiss Black achievements, citizenship, and humanity. Adam McKible's book reveals the role of the magazine in normalizing racism for millions of readers and how Black writers of the Harlem Renaissance challenged Jim Crow ideology.

Format: Hardback
Length: 288 pages
Publication date: 20 February 2024
Publisher: Columbia University Press

In the early 20th century, the Saturday Evening Post emerged as one of the most widely read and influential magazines in the United States, leaving an indelible mark on American culture and shaping literary reputations. While its iconic covers by Norman Rockwell depicted a wholesome and idyllic American way of life, a more troubling reality lay beneath the surface. Under the direction of its longtime editor, George Horace Lorimer, the magazine played a significant role in justifying racism and white supremacy. It published works by white authors that perpetuated paternalistic tropes and demeaning humor, portraying Jim Crow segregation and violence as mere common sense.

Circulating Jim Crow, a groundbreaking book by Adam McKible, delves into the ways in which the Saturday Evening Post propagated white supremacist ideology and dismissed Black achievements, citizenship, and humanity. McKible traces the rise of Lorimer to prominence and explores the white authors who catered to the editor and his readers' cravings for caricatures. He also examines how Black writers of the Harlem Renaissance responded to the Post and its commodified racism. By placing the erstwhile household names who wrote for the magazine in conversation with figures such as Paul Laurence Dunbar, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ann Petry, W. E. B. Du Bois, and William Faulkner, McKible sheds light on the role of the Saturday Evening Post in normalizing racism for millions of readers. Furthermore, the book offers a fresh perspective on how Black writers challenged Jim Crow ideology, providing a valuable contribution to our understanding of this critical period in American history.

Weight: 532g
Dimension: 159 x 238 x 23 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780231212649