‘PROFOUNDLY SORRY’

The Baltimore Sun Issues Apology for Lengthy History of Racism

The paper ran classified ads selling the enslaved or offering bounties on escaped slaves as far back as 1837, among other racist actions.

The Baltimore Sun published an apology for the newspaper’s lengthy history of racism Friday, which dates back to classified ads selling the enslaved or offering bounties on escaped slaves in the mid-1800s. Among other offenses listed by the editorial board were essays that argued against giving Black people the vote, failing to hire any Black journalists until the 1960s, and a 2002 editorial that characterized a gubernatorial candidate’s running mate as offering “little to the team but the color of his skin.” The Sun’s editorial board cited Arunah Abell, the Sun’s founder and a “Southern sympathizer,” as the original driver of the newspaper’s objectionable direction, writing, “This newspaper, which grew prosperous and powerful in the years leading up to the Civil War and beyond, reinforced policies and practices that treated African Americans as lesser than their white counterparts… Through its news coverage and editorial opinions, The Sun sharpened, preserved and furthered the structural racism that still subjugates Black Marylanders in our communities today… For this, we are deeply ashamed and profoundly sorry.” The editorial board published the full text of multiple offending articles and ads and also listed ways the paper is now working to make amends for its history of prejudice.