| Sumario: | The article proposes a theory of cognitive bias to explain the interracial violence of Whites against African Americans in New Orleans, Louisiana between 1921 and 1945. Most of the incidents explored were shootings by policemen and watchmen who pled self-defense as an excuse for their actions, although further investigation often found no evidence of the African American victims being armed. Other topics considered include prevailing racial stereotyping during the period, the city's high rate of crime, printed accounts of violence appearing in newspapers, and the use of contemporary psychological theories to explain historical actions.
|
|---|