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SOUTHERN TREES BEAR STRANGE FRUIT
BLOOD ON THE LEAVES AND BLOOD AT THE ROOT BLACK BODIES SWINGING IN THE SOUTHERN BREEZE STRANGE FRUIT HANGING FROM THE POPLAR TREES BILLIE HOLIDAY |
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The Origins and History of Lynching The term "lynch" originated because of the activities of Colonel Charles Lynch. Lynch was a Colonel during the Revolutionary War who tried and punished the "Tories" after the was with no legal jurisdiction. Lynch was a wealthy plantation owner from Virginia who headed up an extralegal court. This "court" took the law into it's own hands and did not give the accused the right to trial. Lynchings did not always involve the death of the accused. Before 1850, which is when lynching took an extremely violent turn, the victim was beaten. After the 1850s the victims were treated with more brutality, and eventually the term lynching took on the the meaning we now associate with it - killing without legal cause. After the Reconstruction era more and more lynchings began to occur. During this time several black people were burned at the stake or hanged in the name of justice, justice in the mob's point of view anyway. In 1890, lynch mobs took another brutal step. they began dismembering their black victims and selling their body parts for souvenirs. An onlooker could buy a piece of dries bone for twenty-five cents, a dried piece of the victim's liver for a dime, or a whole finger or toe for a dollar. the public lynchings drew in large crowds, eventually a huge recreational activity where entire families would come out to watch. Railway companies would offer special rates and times to the crowds who wanted to view the lynchings. Newspapers publicized the events offering dates and times for some lynchings. There were even postcards depicting the bodies of lynched victims. If you would like to see some of these pictures click on the images button at the bottom of the poage. These are very graphic and may be offensive to some. If someone were to ask you what these victims were charged with, you would probably answer murder or rape. Murder or rape would be true in some cases, but sadly this was not always the case. Lynching victims were accused with a wide variety of charges most of which were not deserving of death. the victims were lynched for arguing with white shopkeepers, or not addressing a white man with respect. Some victims wee lynched for trying to get a job that was "above" their social standing. Is looking at a white woman a crime punishable by murder? The lynch mobs seemed to think so. Here is a table showing the number of people killed for specific "crimes" from 1889 to 1929. We have come a long way in the equality of all people, but lynchings still happen today in the twentieth century. Jerome Byrd was a black man who was lynched in 1998. He was dragged behind a pick-up truck until he eventually died. This man was accused of no crime, he was murdered just because he was black. Although we have come a long way in the strive for equality, the future is only as bright as we make it. |
Lynching Statistics for 1882-1968
Throughout the late 19th century racial tension grew throughout the United States. More of this tension was noticeable in the Southern parts of the United States. In the south, people were blaming their financial problems on the newly freed slaves that lived around them. Lynchings were becoming a popular way of resolving some of the anger that whites had in relation to the free blacks. From 1882-1968, 4,743 lynchings occurred in the United States. Of these people that were lynched 3,446 were black. The blacks lynched accounted for 72.7% of the people lynched. These numbers seem large, but it is known that not all of the lynchings were ever recorded. Out of the 4,743 people lynched only 1,297 white people were lynched. That is only 27.3%. Many of the whites lynched were lynched for helping the black or being anti lynching and even for domestic crimes. Was lynching necessary? To many people it was not, but to the whites in the late 19th century it served a purpose. Whites started lynching because they felt it was necessary to protect white women. Rape though was not a great factor in reasoning behind the lynching. It was the third greatest cause of lynchings behind homicides and 'all other causes. Most of the lynchings that took place happened in the South. A big reason for this was the end of the Civil War. Once black were given their freedom, many people felt that the freed blacks were getting away with too much freedom and felt they needed to be controlled. Mississippi had the highest lynchings from 1882-1968 with 581. Georgia was second with 531, and Texas was third with 493. 79% of lynching happened in the South. Of the lynching that did not take place in the South, mainly in the West, were normally lynchings of whites, not blacks. Most of the lynching in the West came from the lynching of either murders or cattle thief's. There really was no political link to the lynching of blacks in the South, and whites in the West. Not all states did lynch people. Some states did not lynch a white or a black person. Alaska, Hawaii, Rhode Island, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, and Connecticut were these few states that had no lynchings between 1882-1968. Although some states did have lynchings, some of them did not lynch any blacks. Arizona, Idaho, Maine, Nevada, South Dakota, Vermont, and Wisconsin were some states that did not lynch any blacks to record. Quite a few states did in fact lynch more white people than black. In the West these greater number of white lynchings was due to political reasons not racial reasons. California, Colorado, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming lynched more whites than blacks. It's sad to think that we look at other countries and deem them immoral for killing their own people, but we over look the fact of what happened in the late 1890's to the late 1960's. This is something that we cannot over look and do not need to try to over look it .
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| CAUSES OF LYNCHINGS |
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| STATES WITH THE HIGHEST NUMBER OF LYNCHINGS |
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| THIS PHOTO WAS ACTUALLY TURNED INTO A POSTCARD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! | |
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| THEY WERE PROBABLY LYNCHED FOR NOT STEPPING OFF THE PAVEMENT WHEN ENCOUNTERING A WHITE MAN WHO WAS WALKING TOWARD THEM-IS THIS WORTH THEIR LIVES? |
| LYNCHINGS WERE TREATED AS SOCIAL OCCASIONS!!!!!!!!!!!!!! |
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