EOTO - Lynching

 Lynching

        From the years of 1882 to 1968 there were roughly 4,743 lynchings of blacks in the United States. Lynching was a very popular means of unauthorized execution during this time period. Typically lynching was a crime committed against African Americans, but there are many instances where the act was committed against whites as well, prior to the determination of their guilt regarding an accusation. Lynchings were never federal crimes, and it wasn't until 2018 that the Senate passed an anti-lynching bill. This devastating and destructive happening taunted blacks and opposing whites for all too long. 

    Lynching is defined as the killing of a person through mob action, without legal approval. The victim would be accused of a crime, and not receive proper due process, but be executed regardless. The sequence of order for these lynchings, was often something along the lines of an initial criminal accusation, followed by an arrest which then led to the assembly of a mob who took it upon themselves to seize the victim, torture them, and therefore proceed to kill said person. These executions were again, not court ordered. There was no true investigation into the honesty of the trial regarding each accusation. Many of the people lynched may have been completely innocent of the crime they had been accused of, but killed anyway. 

    The lynchings occurred in public areas, and were frequently advertised in order to draw a crowd. In some aspects, these lynchings were a form of entertainment. In photos, you can see families gathered at lynchings with small children, simply just to watch. Lynchings were also written about and published in newspapers across the nation; but, not in a way to warn you of them, but rather to bring about positive attention and entertainment. Published in The New York World Telegram, an article was titled "Negro Is Slain By Texas Posse: Victims Heart Removed After His Capture By Armed Men". The article then went on to speak of the detailed and gruesome activities performed to the seized man. Articles depicting the lynchings were were not hard to come by, they were in both national newspapers as well as local ones. 

    The purpose of lynching was to instill a great fear in the black population in order to gain control. After slavery had ended, insecure and overbearing whites took it upon themselves to still find a way to feel superior. The way they achieved this was to kill potentially innocent blacks through the practice of lynching. The fear of being lynched prevented blacks from voting, obtaining basic human rights, or even seeking employment. It was also known that blacks who became powerful and successful were also at risk of being lynched due to some white folks fear that they lose power at the gain of someone else's. Along with that, whites who spoke out against the lynching of black people were also at great risk of being lynched. Overall, the main purpose of lynching was to have a sense of power and control. 

    In the early 1900's, people began to speak out against the practice of lynching. Ida B. Wells-Barnett was a leader in efforts to reduce violence against blacks. She was a journalist and civil-rights militant. There were national efforts to eliminate lynching. Some of these efforts include the NAACP flying a flag outside their New York City Headquarters after every reported lynching, protesting, and the accumulation and publishing of statistics. The flag that the NAACP flew read, "A Man Was Lynched Yesterday", this went on to be a slogan used to fight against lynching and represent the powerful black community willing to fight for rights and justice. The protest spanned across the country and even occurred in Washington, D.C. When data was published regarding lynching, it drew attention to just how much unjust killing was happening. This drew in a lot of support for abolishing the practice of lynching. 

    As blacks established more respect and further gained rights, the practice of lynching began to decrease. Through the efforts of those stand out citizens such as Ida B. Wells, the general black community, and inclusive whites, lynching finally became outlawed.