Embracing Germany: interwar German society and Black Germans through the eyes of African-American reporters

摘要

This article looks at the published reports on visits made to inter-war Germany by prominent black journalists Robert S. Abbot, J.A. Rogers and Lewis K. McMillan. Drawing on their own experiences as well as their engagement with German-based Blacks the reporters contrasted the oppressive conditions black people faced in the US with the apparent lack of colour prejudice in Germany. Their coverage serves as a critique of race relations in the US, while also providing snapshots into the conditions under which Black Germans lived as well as an insight into the writers' own perceptions of a broader Black Diaspora in development.