By September the 1906 the race for governor of Georgia was becoming a heated battle between Hoke Smith and Clark Howell. Both men played upon the racial unrest that was plaguing Atlanta, and they used the two biggest newspapers in the city to do this.
Hoke Smith used the Atlanta Journal to put forth the opinion that disenfranchising black voters would be the only way to maintain ‘proper’ social order. If they could vote they would gain even more political and business power.
Clark Howell used the Atlanta Constitution to claim that Smith was secretly working with African-American civic leaders. After all, poll taxes and all white primaries would be enough to disenfranchise black voters.
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