Lynching (fl. 1882-1968) is a form of extrajudicial killing in which vigilantes or a mob becomes judge, jury and executioner. A public hanging was the preferred method of execution. The US government did not start cracking down on the practice till the late 1940s.
By the numbers: From 1882 to 1968, at least 4,743 people were lynched in the US, 3,446 of them Black. Only 1% of lynchers since 1900 have been found guilty of a crime.
By state: States which lynched the greatest number of Black people from 1882 to 1968:
- Mississippi: 539
- Georgia: 492
- Texas: 352
- Louisiana: 335
- Alabama: 299
Namesake: In the 1700s Charles Lynch of Virginia was such a well-known lyncher that the practice was named after him. During the American Revolution he was a justice of the peace who ran a kangaroo court that executed loyalists to the British Crown.
Black terror: In the 1890s lynching became racialized. It was no longer just a way to deal with cattle thieves and other troublesome characters outside the bounds of the law. It became part of the social order of the Jim Crow South, an instrument of White terrorism to keep freed Blacks down. That is why 79% of recorded lynchings took place in the South and 73% of the lynched were Black. And why the Klan became such a huge fan.
White entertainment: The 1904 lynching of Luther Holbert and his wife was described thus by Vox:
“the crowd cut off pieces of their ‘quivering flesh’ while they were still alive. As the incisions were made, the crowd drank lemonade and whiskey and bought snacks.”
Souvenirs: postcards, severed body parts, even genitals.
Like Roman crucifixion, it was meant to be public, humiliating, slow and painful – because at bottom it was an instrument of terror.
Richard Wright, who knew two people who were lynched, said in his novel “Black Boy” (1945):
“The things that influenced my conduct as a Negro did not have to happen to me directly; I needed but to hear of them to feel their full effects in the deepest layers of my consciousness. Indeed, the white brutality that I had not seen was a more effective control of my behavior than that which I knew.”
Southern White men, even senators, defended the practice as necessary to deter rape, to protect White women from Black men – the Black Brute and Pure White Woman stereotypes.
Ida B. Wells, an anti-lynching crusader who looked into many cases of lynching, said White fears were more economic than sexual. Only a third of the lynched were accused of rape and many of those accusations were not well founded.
Being “uppity” was a leading cause of death.
US Congress has yet to pass an anti-lynching law despite several serious attempts to do just that – in 1918, 1922, 1937, 1940 and 2018. The latest attempt, the Justice for Victims of Lynching Act of 2018, passed the Senate but not the House. Nor has it been championed by President Trump who appears to think lynching is wrong, at least when applied to him – but maybe not to the Central Park 5.
– Abagond, 2019.
Update (March 29th 2022): After 104 years, an anti-lynching has been passed by the US Congress. It was signed into law today by President Biden. Ida B.Wells’ great granddaughter, Michelle Duster, was on hand. The last four hold-outs against it were Libertarian Rep. Justin Amash (MI-03), and Republicans Reps. Louie Gohmert (TX-01), Thomas Massie (KY-04), and Ted Yoho (FL-03). As of tomorrow, lynching will be a federal hate crime punishable by up to 30 years in prison.
Sources: Google Images, “Creating Black Americans” (2006) by Nell Irvin Painter, Vox, PBS, Britannica, NAACP, etc.
See also:
- examples:
- The 1920 Duluth lynching
- The lynching of Thomas Shipp and Abram Smith – the one pictured in the post
- Emmett Till
- C.J. Miller
- Jim Crow
- Ida B. Wells
- White American terrorism
- slave patrols
- Ku Klux Klan
- Tulsa race riot
- Rosewood
- Dylann Roof
- killer cops
- media:
- The Birth of a Nation – inspired lynching
- Billie Holiday: Strange Fruit – condemned lynching
- Richard Wright
- Central Park 5
- crucifixion
- Legacy Museum
633
A few posts ago, KingRaized stated the following under Abagond’s blog, Tammy the Mammy:
“Tammy the Mammy?? Perhaps people are defining their hate, beastfullness and unpeacefulness in their beings..”
You obviously made the above statement not only was it grossly out of context; targeted the wrong group of people who were merely against Tammy’s judicial conduct, but even under the wrong blog post. To be honest, I was a little more than perplexed by your statement, but I held my peace.
Perhaps you should’ve reserved your comment because it would’ve been much more contextually befitting for Abagond’s current post in regards to “Lynching!” (smh)
Deuteronomy 28:67 In the morning thou shalt say, Would God it were even! and at even thou shalt say, Would God it were morning! for the fear of thine heart wherewith thou shalt fear, and for the sight of thine eyes which thou shalt see.
Good post Abagond!
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@Abagond
You know as well as I do from the “gut” that those numbers are down played and inaccurate. Given the times and the fact that who was not considered viably “human”.
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Trump used the word lynching as a dog whistle to get his unhinged cult following to start acting out.
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Women were also lynched. A pregnant Mary Turner was lynched and her unborn child cut out of her womb. The child was bludgeoned to death by a savage mob of whites. This is animalistic behavior.
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Investigative reporter Ida B. Wells courageously reported about the numerous lynchings of Black Americans during her day.
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@Abagond
I recall reading that the lynching postcards were extremely popular, so much so that a ban was imposed because the postal system was being overwhelmed.
I’m always struck by the demeanor of the whites in these photographs of lynching scenes. They don’t seem emotional enough, neither angry nor jubilant, given that they’d just watched or participated in the torture and killing of a human being. It’s chilling, and makes me question their humanity.
”
White fears were more economic than sexual. Only a third of the lynched were accused of rape and many of those accusations were not well founded.
Being “uppity” was a leading cause of death.
”
This reminds me of the posts Afrofem made under “Joshua Brown”. Whites have used various tactics, including lynching and other forms of terror, to actively prevent the black community from strengthening itself. The descendants of those ugly folks in picture above will turn around and ask why black people didn’t “pull themselves up by their bootstraps”.
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@ Origin
My thoughts exactly.
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@ Untoldstory
Right, the real numbers are higher. That is why I said “at least” in the post.
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Well said
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They bloody well know what they are about, make no mistake they just play stupid.
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Aba, the misconception about lynching is that the Klan were responsible for them. This is incorrect, a large number of these lynchings were carried out by every day white people.
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Mary, Ida B. Wells is quite possible the greatest most underrated American of all time!
Wee hear more about women that did symbolic things but this lady was a true soldier, so to was Fannie Lou Hamer.
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Update (March 29th 2022): After 104 years, an anti-lynching has been passed by the US Congress. It was signed into law today by President Biden. Ida B.Wells’ great granddaughter, Michelle Duster, was on hand. The last four hold-outs against it were Libertarian Rep. Justin Amash (MI-03), and Republicans Reps. Louie Gohmert (TX-01), Thomas Massie (KY-04), and Ted Yoho (FL-03). As of tomorrow, lynching will be a federal hate crime punishable by up to 30 years in prison.
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