I have also done a fair bit of academic research reading archives of newspaper crime pages from the early 20th Century.
To be fair, many of the more lurid stories came from European immigrant neighborhoods, as well. But they weren't really considered "white" back then, with "white" meaning "Anglo."
I just kind of chafe at the current cuck-conservative trope that black neighborhoods looked like Leave It To Beaver until LBJ worked his evil Whitey spell on them.