C.J. Miller (?-1893) was a black man in America lynched for the murder of two white girls, a murder most likely committed by a white man.
Ida B. Wells in “The Red Record” (1894) used his murder at the hands of a white mob as an example of how innocent black people could be scapegoated and lynched. She used it as an argument against lynching. Yes, lynching was seriously debated. It was defended in public, not just in bars but even on the floor of the U.S. Senate. Much like capital punishment is today.
Once upon a time in the state of Missouri C.J. Miller was thrown off a train and arrested by the police. At the time the police were looking for the killer of two white girls in the neighbouring state of Kentucky. He did not match the physical description of the killer, not even slightly, but they sent him to the police in Kentucky as a suspect all the same.
The police in Kentucky tried to pin the crime on Miller, but at each turn they failed to find any solid proof:
- Wrong clothing: He was wearing different clothes than the killer
- Wrong race: The killer was white or very close to it according to eyewitnesses. Miller was dark-skinned.
- Coerced witness: One eyewitness who said Miller was the killer did so only after the police threatened him.
- The bloodhound did in fact stop in front of Miller, but the press of the mob gave him little choice. Earlier when the same bloodhound took the police to the farm of a white man, the white man was neither questioned nor suspected.
- A dark red stain on Miller’s shirt turned out to be paint, not blood.
- Lack of confession: Despite being threatened by armed, drunken men, Miller never confessed to the crime. He did not want to die with a lie on his soul.
- False rumours: In jail a Methodist minister tried to make Miller admit his guilt. He refused. That did not stop stories of him doing so from spreading among the mob gathered outside the jail.
The lynch mob had grown from 30 to over 300. Many were drunk, many were carrying guns. The police took no measures to protect Miller from them. The police seemed to trust the mob, not fear them.
The father of the two murdered girls said Miller was not the killer. The mob wanted Miller dead anyway. They wanted to burn him alive. The father, facing a drunken, well-armed mob, made a deal: they could hang him but not burn him alive. They agreed.
The lynching itself: The mob took Miller out of jail, tore off his clothes, tied his shirt round his middle, put chains on him and dragged him through the streets. He fainted several times. They hung him from a telegraph pole, killing him. Many shot at him. When his body came down they cut off his fingers and toes (presumably as keepsakes) and then burned his body.
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I would be interested in hearIng more about the “Red Record”
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There are obvious comparisons here with the state conviction and killing of Troy Davis.Its easy to see how this can be viewed as simply a case of 21st century “lynching”.
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The father knew Miller was not the murderer of his children, why did he make a “deal” with the crowd that Miller should be hanged, but not burned alive? Was this some sort of twisted “mercy” on his part?
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because the father probably did it. and black men still want to marry these people.
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@ Kwamla Hesse:
Yes. These two situations weren’t even about finding out the truth, but about thirsting for the blood of these men who may very well be innocent. It’s appalling.
That’s morbid. Only sickos would do that.
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Lynching souvenirs were a big thing as morbid as it sounds.
Often, whole communities of men, women and children showed up to observe/participate in lynchings.
It was common to collect hair and body parts and take pictures with the body.
In fact, the postal system became so clogged with lynching postcards that the practice of sending them had to be banned.
And all of this occurred after African Americans had already endured the horrors of chattel slavery.
It’s interesting that none of these things were ever repudiated on the level of say, the Jewish holocaust.
There was never an equivalent of the Nuremberg trials.
Black people don’t get billions of dollars in military and other aid from America’s own coffers.
But when they speak about iniquities and inequities which are not THAT ancient (America was still OVERTLY racist at the time of the civil rights act in 1964, a couple decades after WWII) they are playing “the race card”.
As the wider America says about 911, Pearl Harbour, or any other event important to them: “we will not forget”.
I think this site does a good job of raising awareness of racism past and present amidst constant attempts to whitewash it.
I like that the site has no mandate to convince anyone of anything; people will believe whatever they desperately want to.
Just continue to document, inform and analyze.
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@ jada
The father knew Miller was not the murderer of his children, why did he make a “deal” with the crowd that Miller should be hanged, but not burned alive?
$64,000 question.
Was this some sort of twisted “mercy” on his part?
Indeed, he probably seriously believed he was doing a great act of mercy by helping decide how an innocent man should be murdered.
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Abagond, this question may sound juvenile…but it is honest. I admire your intellect, and would like you to answer to the best of your abilities.
I’ve asked my mother, my father, my professors, and have read numerous books on the topic but still haven’t found a satisfying answer to this question.
Francis Cress Welsing’s theory has come very close to satisfying as an answer for me (the theory of White Genetic Survival)…but every time I read of a gory lynching or a gruesome event concerning not just the fact that an innocent black man was killed at the hands of black men, but that the methods were soooo over-the-top, I still have the same question reoccurring…
My question is Why did white men go to such an extreme to dehumanize and eradicate black men? Why?????? Why???? Why?!!!!
This is a black female 2nd year medical student btw. If you know of any books or articles on the topic please forward them.
Best,
Jess
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@Jessica: it is the culture of the white america. When John Dillinger, famous and very popular WHITE bank robber was gunned down on the street, a huge crowd gathered around to see. Many, perhaps dozen or so, white women rushed from the crowd and wetted their hankerchiefs on the fresh blood. Also at that time, in 1930’s, the officials showed the corpses of the criminals they had killed to the public, just like they did 100 yrs earlier.
Lynchings were also family picnics, there are pictures of lynchings were pretty white women dressed in their sunday best are smiling to the camera, holding hands with their little ones.
My self being a white male, I never ever want to go near any corpse. I do not want to see violent death, torture, murder or such. I do not glamorise those things, they make me sick. In USA, the carneval, litterally, of violence is still alive and well. They show it live on tv if they can. In my country or in most of Europe, they do not show on tv how the cops kill criminals or such. After facts yes, but not the deed. For some reason this is still ok in USA.
Over here these kind of antics became obsolite perhaps 100 yrs ago even before. In France they used the guillotine untill 1972, but not publicly since 1800’s. They did not hang people publicly in Britain anymore after 1800’s. Even in Soviet Union they did not kill people publicly, even though they killed millions of them in gulags etc.
In China they do. In taleban controlled Afganistan they did. In Saudi Arabia they do. And in USA they still show on live tv how some criminal or assumed criminal is gunned down by the cops. And millions are watching.
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@ Jessica:
I think John Trudell gave a good answer to that question:
In short, if whites do not dehumanize blacks then they will have to face up to their own true nature, which is not pretty.
That does not answer the question of how it all got started. The best answer I have seen to that so far comes from Thandeka:
In short, because of how whites are brought up, they have a hard time dealing with people who are different.
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Yeah how lucky for him he got lynched instead of burned to death. The end result is that he still died for a crime he didn’t commit. The death of Troy Davis tells us that not a damn thing has changed and this is why Black people must continue to be vigilant around Whites.
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White people are just demonic
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A sickening practice, made even more disgusting by the fact that there was actually a cottage “souvenir” industry of it. Without Sanctuary is a site that has archived several pictures of postcards and other photos that were taken at various lynchings around the country in the post-Civil War era until about 1930. Apparently it was so popular to send post-cards after a lynching, that the Post Office eventually had to ban the practice.
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the reason why is because bottom line white people are jealous and envious of black people. white men know their women prefer black men, and that black women (as ugly as we are supposed to be) dont give a damn about white men. they also hate themselves, what they see in the mirror all that ugly pale white. it is not that deep. also keep in mind they dont have a soul just a spirit.
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Without Sanctuary is quite something. In the case of the lynching of 17 y.o Jesse Washington at Waco, a postcard describes the event quite flippantly: “This is the barbecue we had last night. My picture is to the left with a cross over it. Your son, Joe.”
There are laws in America against these things now but I don’t think the psyche has truly changed. It is subtly evident in the continued inequities in the justice system and the greater likelihood that police will use lethal force against a black man.
However, sometimes it shows up in very naked ways such as the Abu Ghraib incident in which iraqi detainees were stripped of clothes and tortured somtimes to the death. This particular event completed the lynching analogy with photographic mementos of smiling white people amidst dead or suffering non-whites.
I do not think the culture has transcended its despicable past as much as it wants to believe. Sure, there has been progress on an institutional level, often despite considerable opposition and with much effort by those agitating for change. However, all the legal checks that were put in place are still NECESSARY and racism persists even in their presence.
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[…] C.J. Miller (1893) – killed by a white mob in Kentucky on suspicions of murder. No charges. […]
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