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-
