There were at least 700 more Lynches in the South than previously thought

[jimmy olsen]

Terrible, but not surprising 

On a lighter note the author has the most NYC-Italian name ever

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/feb/10/history-of-lynchings-and-racial-violence-continues-to-haunt-us?ncid=fcbklnkushpmg00000047

Jim Crow lynchings more widespread than first thought, report concludes

Equal Justice Initiative report reveals history of racial violence and finds at least 700 more lynchings than previously recorded in southern states

Lauren Gambino in New York
Tuesday 10 February 2015 06.10 EST

In 1919, a black soldier returned home to Blakely, Georgia, having survived the horrors of the first world war only to face the terrors of a white mob that awaited him in the Jim Crow-era south. When the soldier, William Little, refused to remove his army uniform, the savage mob exacted their punishment.

Little was just one of 3,959 African Americans who were brutally and often publicly killed across the southern states between the end of the Reconstruction era and the second world war, which is at least 700 more lynchings in these states than previously recorded, according to a report released on Tuesday by the Equal Justice Initiative (EJI). The authors' inventory of the nearly 4,000 victims of what the report calls "terror lynchings" reveals a history of racial violence more extensive and more brutal than initially reported.

Many of the victims were, like Little, killed for minor transgressions against segregationist mores – or simply for demanding basic human rights or refusing to submit to unfair treatment. And though the names and faces of many who were lynched have slipped from the pages of history, their deaths, the report argues, have left an indelible mark on race relations in America.

"The trauma and anguish that lynchings and racial violence created in this country continues to haunt us and to contaminate race relations and our criminal justice system in too many places across the country," it concluded.

The report, titled Lynching in America: Confronting the Legacy of Racial Terror, is the result of nearly five years of investigation by EJI, a nonprofit organisation based in Montgomery, Alabama, into lynchings that occurred in 12 southern states between 1877 and 1950. It explores how the legacy of racial inequality in America was shaped and complicated by these violent decades, which saw thousands of African American men, women and children killed by "terror lynchings", horrific acts of violence inflicted on racial minorities.

The sites of nearly all of these killings, however, remain unmarked in what the report calls an "astonishing absence of any effort to acknowledge, discuss or address" the violence that occurred. The authors make the case that the country cannot fully heal from this painful chapter of its history until it acknowledges the devastation that this era created and the residual effects of these acts.

Bryan Stevenson, the director of EJI, said the organization plans to erect monuments, memorials and markers in the communities where the lynchings took place, as a way of piercing the silence and starting a conversation.

Acknowledging the hardships he faces in getting the funding and approval to build the markers, not to mention the controversy that will almost certainly ensue, Stevenson said the process will force communities to reckon with the vicious history of racial violence.

"We want to change the visual landscape of this country so that when people move through these communities and live in these communities, that they're mindful of this history," Stevenson said. "We really want to see truth and reconciliation emerge, so that we can turn the page on race relations."

He added: "We don't think you should be able to come to these places without facing their histories."

The report argues that atrocities carried out against African Americans during this period were akin to terrorism, and that lynchings were a tool to "enforce racial subordination and segregation". It is the follow-up to the organisation's 2013 report Slavery in America.

"It's important to begin talking about it," Stevenson said. "These lynchings were torturous and violent and extreme. They were sometimes attended by the entire white community. It was sometimes not enough to lynch the person who was the target, but it was necessary to terrorise the entire black community: burn down churches and attack black homes. I think that that kind of history really can't be ignored."

Stevenson said this era had a profound impact on contemporary issues facing African Americans.

"The failings of this era very much reflect what young people are now saying about police shootings," Stevenson said. "It is about embracing this idea that 'black lives matter'," he added. "I also think that the lynching era created a narrative of racial difference, a presumption of guilt, a presumption of dangerousness that got assigned to African Americans in particular – and that's the same presumption of guilt that burdens young kids living in urban areas who are sometimes menaced, threatened, or shot and killed by law enforcement officers."

[Valmy]

Many of the victims were, like Little, killed for minor transgressions against segregationist mores – or simply for demanding basic human rights or refusing to submit to unfair treatment.

And sometimes just being in the wrong place at the wrong time.  The point was to create an atmosphere of terror, the arbitrariness of it was part of the fear.

It's important to begin talking about it," Stevenson said. "These lynchings were torturous and violent and extreme. They were sometimes attended by the entire white community. It was sometimes not enough to lynch the person who was the target, but it was necessary to terrorise the entire black community: burn down churches and attack black homes. I think that that kind of history really can't be ignored."

Haven't we been talking about this for years?  It puzzles me how I keep hearing about things that were present in my basic history courses and I see mentioned all the time as if they are not being discussed or are being ignored.  I think people just do not give a damn about history really and that frustrates people but it is no conspiracy.  I certainly saw many graphic pictures of lynching and racial murder and race riots and large white crowds who showed up to see them.

[mongers]

Many of the victims were, like Little, killed for minor transgressions against segregationist mores – or simply for demanding basic human rights or refusing to submit to unfair treatment.

And sometimes just being in the wrong place at the wrong time.  The point was to create an atmosphere of terror, the arbitrariness of it was part of the fear.

ISIL reminds me a lot of the period described.

[Berkut]

Stuff like this is in the realm of "hard to believe humans can be so inhuman".

I can no more imagine myself getting together with some friends to go out and randomly murder some black guy than I could imagine working the gas chamber at Auschwitz.

[Valmy]

ISIL reminds me a lot of the period described.

Using arbitrary terrorism to subdue a population was not invented in the American South for sure.  It is old and works....so long as nobody pokes around too much.

[mongers]

Stuff like this is in the realm of "hard to believe humans can be so inhuman".

I can no more imagine myself getting together with some friends to go out and randomly murder some black guy than I could imagine working the gas chamber at Auschwitz.

Well there's that whole argument that it's a very human so, 'we' have to guard against it both individually and collectively.

[Valmy]

Stuff like this is in the realm of "hard to believe humans can be so inhuman".

I can no more imagine myself getting together with some friends to go out and randomly murder some black guy than I could imagine working the gas chamber at Auschwitz.

It was considered a vile but necessary job.  To protect society and so forth.  That is what makes it so horrifying.  For the most part these were good people doing what they thought was a good thing.  That is hard to get my head around.

[CountDeMoney]

It was considered a vile but necessary job.  To protect society and so forth.  That is what makes it so horrifying.  For the most part these were good people doing what they thought was a good thing.  That is hard to get my head around.

They knew exactly what they were doing, and why.  The Nuremburg Defense doesn't work for the South's ingrained history of racism.

[Valmy]

It was considered a vile but necessary job.  To protect society and so forth.  That is what makes it so horrifying.  For the most part these were good people doing what they thought was a good thing.  That is hard to get my head around.

They knew exactly what they were doing, and why.  The Nuremburg Defense doesn't work for the South's ingrained history of racism.

Of course they did.  To protect society from the scary negros.  If you didn't they would all go nuts and rape the white women or something.

Not sure why that is a defense.  Merely that this view was held by people who in all other ways were good people.  Hence the scariness.

[Siege]

Why are they wipping this old dog again?
When was the last time a black dude was lynched?
Are there still mobs of white dudes out for blood lynching people in the South?

This is like Zerobama talking about the crusades as the justification for muslim terrorism.
Sure dude.

[derspiess]

The Andy Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh had an exhibit with lynching photos several years back.  Pretty grueling to make your way through the whole exhibit.  One thing that was striking was the number of whites that were also lynched.

[Valmy]

Why are they wipping this old dog again?
When was the last time a black dude was lynched?
Are there still mobs of white dudes out for blood lynching people in the South?

Well that is a very good question Siege, thanks for asking!  The last known lynching was in the late 90s in good old Jasper, Texas.    At least the one I know of.

I presume we are talking about it because it is Black History Month.

This is like Zerobama talking about the crusades as the justification for muslim terrorism.

I guess I don't see how it is like that.  What was the article justifying?

[Valmy]

The Andy Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh had an exhibit with lynching photos several years back.  Pretty grueling to make your way through the whole exhibit.  One thing that was striking was the number of whites that were also lynched.

Race traitors I guess....eh more like miscegenation.  Am I right?

[CountDeMoney]

The Andy Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh had an exhibit with lynching photos several years back.  Pretty grueling to make your way through the whole exhibit.  One thing that was striking was the number of whites that were also lynched.

Race traitors I guess.

Leave it to derweiß to acknowledge the white victims of racism.

[garbon]

The Andy Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh had an exhibit with lynching photos several years back.  Pretty grueling to make your way through the whole exhibit.  One thing that was striking was the number of whites that were also lynched.

Race traitors I guess.

Leave it to derweiß to acknowledge the white victims of racism.