the "times" noted a call for unionization: "negroes must form cotton workers' unions. southern white capitalists know that the negroes can bring the white bourbon south to its knees. so go to it." coverage of the root causes of the riot against black people in elaine, arkansas evolved as the violence stretched over several days. a dispatch from helena, arkansas, to the "new york times" datelined october 1 said: "returning members of the [white] posse brought numerous stories and rumors, through all of which ran the belief that the rioting was due to propaganda distributed among the negroes by white men." the next day's report added detail: "additional evidence has been obtained of the activities of propagandists among the negroes, and it is thought that a plot existed for a general uprising against the whites." a white man had been arrested and was "alleged to have been preaching social equality among the negroes". part of the headline was: "trouble traced to socialist agitators". a few days later a western newspaper union dispatch captioned a photo using the words "captive negro insurrectionists".