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 CHAPTER III

DEFAMATION TO CALL A WHITE PERSON A NEGRO

There are certain words which are so universally considered injurious to a person in his social or business relations if spoken of him that the courts have held that the speaker of such words is liable to an action for slander, and damages are recoverable even though the one of whom the words were spoken does not prove that he suffered any special damage from the words having been spoken of him. The speaking of such words is said to be actionable per se. In short, all the world knows that it is injurious to a man to speak such words of him, and the court does not require proof of facts which all the world knows. Such words are (1) those imputing an infamous crime; (2) those disparaging to a person in his trade, business, office, or profession; and (3) those imputing a loathsome disease. Thus, to say that a man is a murderer is to impute to him an infamous crime, and if he brings a suit for slander, it is not necessary for him to prove that he has been damaged by the statement. The result is the same if one says that a person will not pay his debts, because that injures him in his profession or business; or that a man has the leprosy, because that is imputing to him a loathsome disease.

From early times, it has been held to be slander, action