Charles Loeb was not just a journalist for a Black newspaper – he was an advocate and an interpreter of the news for his readers. But there was something else even more important to his work: he was unapologetically Black! And that nearly got him in trouble.
Loeb wrote for Black audiences, and he ALWAYS told the truth to our people. This didn’t change when the U.S. dropped atomic bombs on Japan during WWII – in fact, it was his Blackness that let him know something was wrong, even when the U.S. military tried to persuade him otherwise!
While many white journalists wrote what the military told them, and even got paid for LYING to the American public, Loeb knew the bomb had done more than just destroy buildings.
He exposed that the bombs’ radiation did long-term damage to humans! But there was more.
Part of the motivation for dropping the bomb on Japan was racial prejudice. White folks could lie as much as they wanted – Black people know racism when we see it.
Because of Loeb’s relentless determination, the truth eventually came out.
Although the government denied the truth, Loeb and the Black community knew better. We can never allow white society to persuade us to believe things our own experiences have demonstrated are untrue!