1Lynching’s

Lynching’s

Jerrion De’Vonta Shell

University of Wisconsin Milwaukee

Educational Policy 630-001

Professor Michael Bonds

Monday, April 9th, 2012

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Abstract

Lynching is different from regular murder or assault because it was a mutilation/killing that is

committed outside the boundaries of due process by a mob who ratifies revenge for an offense.

During the late 19th century, lynching frequently enjoyed the approval of the public. It is a

practice that was committed, supposedly, in the name of justice. But the motivations for these

killings were unfamiliar to the themes of justice and honor. This paper will discuss the history of

lynching. It will then go into the lynching’s of America. This paper will discuss policies that

were intended to protect people from lynching but failed to do so. Finally, we will discuss

present day lynching’s.

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Table of Contents

Abstract………………………………………………………………..2

Table of Contents……………………………………….....................3

The History of Lynching………………………………………………4-5

Lynching’s in America………………………………………………..5-8

Policies Intended to Prevent Lynching…………………………………8-10

Present Day…………………………………………………………….10

Conclusion……………………………………………………………..10

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The History of Lynching

Lynching is a derivative term that was taken from the name of Col. Charles Lynch who

was a landowner in Virginia in 1790. Lynch had a habit of holding illegal trials of local

lawbreakers in his front yard. Upon conviction of the accused, which was usually the case,

Lynch took to whipping the suspects while they were tied to a tree in front of his house. Over

time, this practice became known as simply "lynching". Although the mistreatment of slaves was

common throughout the early part of the 19th century, lynching was a separate practice apart

from slavery. The term "lynching" refers only to the concept of vigilantism, in which citizens

would assume the role of judge, jury and executioner. Vigilante groups were common during the

last half of the 19th century and were fed by a strong notion that the existing laws were not

functioning properly resulting in criminals, especially black criminals, being set free at the

expense of the public.

According to Bailey and Snedker (2011), lynching is defined by the National Association

for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) as an extralegal killing committed by three or

more individuals who claimed their murderous actions were intended to uphold justice or

tradition. Lynching’s have occurred throughout American History, across geographical regions,

and have targeted individuals from various racial and ethnic backgrounds. The most widely

known manifestation and the one that is most commonly focused on are the lynching’s of Black

Americans in the Jim Crow South. Whites were sometimes lynched in southern states, typically

in sparsely populated, predominately those of white counties. Those targeted individuals were

accused of rape, murder, or both. Scholars across the board agree that the movement of terror

waged against American Blacks which was intended to suppress political participation and

economic independence (Bailey and Snedker, 2011, p. 845).

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Lynching became almost a necessary practice "that served to give dramatic warning to all

black inhabitants that the iron clad system of white supremacy was not to be challenged by deed,

word or even thought" (Gado, 2012). Even though many blacks died at the hands of many whites

though lynching, it would be improper to say that lynching was only used against blacks. Whites,

as well suffered from the rope, and at times in a greater number than blacks. It seems as if those

who would become victims of such horrific murders was determined by the geographical

location of the lynching/ where it took place rather than the victim's offense. According to Gado

(2012), In the deep South, most often the victim was black. In the West, the victim was most

often white. However, lynching, when used against Blacks, was developed for reasons other than

a form of additional justice.

Lynching was the roughest form of confrontation to Black progression. This killing by

torture became a device of control that involved Black women and children and foreign nationals

as well as black men (Browne-Marshall, 2007, p 170). A lynch mob has as its goal subjugating

the victim and spreading terror. For Blacks in America, lynching was an attempt to prevent their

ascension, thus forcing a perpetual labor class regulated to America’s bottom rung socially,

politically, and economically (Browne-Marshall, 2007, p 170). Blacks were lynched for refusing

to “stay in their place”. Blacks were lynched while attempting to escape the racial persecution of

the South by migrating North. Without the equal protection of the laws, the Black community

was made vulnerable to these hideous murderous mobs (Browne-Marshall, 2007, p 176).

Lynching’s in America

Lynching became a social phenomenon. Members of a lynch mob became entangled into

a brutal emotion of racism. During this time, Whites attacked Blacks randomly or based on feud.

Black men were lynched for disputing with a White man, attempting to register to vote,

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unpopularity, self-defense, testifying against a White man, asking a white woman in marriage

and peeping in a window. According to Browne-Marshall (2007) Mobs used lynching as a

punishment for Black who violated the racial divisions sanctioned by Plessey. In spirit, Plessey

vindicated the mob’s action by supporting the notion that whites hated blacks too much to

control their own actions (pg. 175). Mob violence and terrorism became an outlet for White

frustration and jealousy in rural communities. Photographs show the approval the approval of

Whites: women, men, children and elders standing next to the mutilated body of the Black

person who forgot their “place” the bottom (Browne-Marshall, 2007, p.171).

Although Blacks have long been the main targets of lynching, lynch mobs also murdered

Whites. Browne-Marshall (2007) “In Frank v. Mangum, a Jewish defendant, Leo M. Frank, was

awaiting retrial in the rape and murder of Mary Phagan, a thirteen-year-old girl, when he became

the victim of a lynching” (pg. 177). Frank supervised a pencil factory in Atlanta, Georgia at

which Phagan was an employee. Phagan’s body was found in the basement of the factory. Angry

mobs made hostile statements about Frank. During the reading of the verdict, Frank was

removed from the courthouse for fear of an acquittal would lead to mob violence. Frank was

convicted of the crime. He appealed saying that the mob had an influence on the juror’s decision.

The Georgia Supreme Court upheld the verdict. The U.S. Supreme court affirmed the lower

court allowing the verdict to stand. Governor Frank Slaton sentenced Frank to life in prison. On

August 17th, 1915, a mob of 25 men stormed in the prison. Frank was in recovery due to a fellow

prisoner slicing his throat. He was forced inside of a car and driven to the hometown of Mary

Phagan. There they hung him from a tree near the home of Phagan. No one was convicted for

this crime (Browne-Marshall, 2007, p. 177). According to Browne-Marshall (2007) “In 1986,the

Georgia Board of Pardons and Parole gave Leo Frank a posthumous pardon” (p. 178).

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In most cases the lynching of Black men and women took place with little provocation or

evidence of wrong doing. It didn’t matter if you were associated with the event or not, if there

was a mob, the blood of a black person was going to be had. According to Browne-Marshall

(2007), “In Columbus, Mississippi, a black woman was raped and lynched after the lynch mob

could not locate her son to lynch. A Black man was lynched after he refused to dance when

ordered to do so by a white man” (pg. 176). The true motives of lynching were usually economic

or political. Well off Blacks were lynched by Whites because they were jealous of Black

prosperity.

Throughout time, lynching intensified in the north as well as the South. Lynching’s in

Milwaukee and Newburgh indicate how the sectional crisis and the Civil War destabilized and

reconfigured northern political culture and social relations. In Milwaukee and Newburgh, the

Irish Catholic community acted out of a sense of racial difference and white supremacy shaped

by Democratic party politics that linked Irish workers and Southern slaveholders in common

defense of racial hierarchy. The racial lynching’s performed by Irish Americans evinced

profound ethnic solidarity, seeking to avenge crimes against “countrymen” in the larger context

of the Irish community’s familiarity with Old World practices of communal violence and its

perception if its marginalization in American public life. In war time events that paralleled on a

smaller scale Southern whites’ resorted to collective racial violence against emancipated African

Americans during Reconstruction, Nothern Irish Catholics turned to racial lynching as they

sought to reject Republican racial egalitarianism and to reassert racial hierarchy.

On September 6, 1861 in Milwaukee a crowd of 50 to 75 Irishmen forced their way

inside of a jail a seized a man named Marshall Clarke. Clark and another Black American, James

Shelton had exchanged words and blows with two Irishmen after took offense to the two Black

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Americans interaction with white women on the street. During the altercation, Shelton fatally

stabbed one of the Irishmen. The mob began preparing and discussing the lynching openly.

Shelton was able to escape the mob but Clarke was dragged from the jail and brutally beaten

along the way. He was dragged to the fire house a predominately Irish community where he was

questioned and then hung from a pile driver. Thousands flocked to see the body, some carrying

away pieces of the rope as mementos of the event.

Policies Intended to Prevent Lynching

George White, a Black Congressman introduced the first anti lynching bill in

1900(Browne-Marshall, 2007, p.180). The bill was purposely stalled in the House Judiciary

Committee. Later, a White Democrat by the name of Leonidas Dyer proposed an anti- lynching

bill in 1918. Through the help and support of the NAACP the bill was passed by the House of

Representatives in 1922. It was later defeated by the Senate filibuster of Southern Democrats.

White lynch mobs attacked Blacks with freedom. Law enforcement offered little or no

protection against the lynching of Black women, men and children. Too often, law enforcement

were actually associated in the murders. Federal and state courts offered little protection. Living

in the intimidation produced by White lynch mobs became a way of life for Blacks in America.

Black women who fought against White rapist were lynched. In certain cases, Black women

were raped and then lynched. Racial hatred was considered a natural response to racial

interaction. Thus, law enforcement relinquished its responsibility to stop a mob from assaulting

Blacks.

According to Browne-Marshall (2007) In the one and only case, we have U.S v Shipp.

The Supreme Court tried a Sherriff in Tennessee for assisting in the capture of a prisoner. On

January 23, 1906, Nevada Taylor was raped on her way home from work on a very late night.

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Taylor, a White woman, never seen her attacker, she didn’t know how to describe him, she didn’t

even know if he was black or white. Sheriff Shipp arrested a Black man by the name of Ed

Johnson. He was never identified or accused of the rape. He argued that he was at work and

actually had witnesses to verify his alibi. When the lynch mob had formed, he actually had the

protection of the law enforcement on his side. Later, Johnson was convicted of the crime and was

sentenced to death. There was no appeal even attempted to be made. Even if he was the wrong

man, Johnson was still a dead man walking. That is when Noah Pardon a prominent Black

lawyer decided to step in. He was able to have the execution postponed until Justice Harlan was

able to review the case. Justice sent a telegram to Sheriff Shipp letting him know that Johnson

was to be protected. When the town got word of the telegram they went into an uproar. That

night they went an attacked the jail. Johnson was drug to a nearby bridge where he was hung

twice and shot dozens of time. Justice Marshall was outraged that Shipp would allow Johnson to

be attacked. The Supreme Court help Shipp and other in contempt for not obeying orders in the

protection of Jonson until the court had reviewed his case. Shipp and the other defendants were

given 90 days in prison.

Presidents such as Warren G. Harding, Woodrow Wilson and Franklin D. Roosevelt

refused to take any action towards getting anti-lynching legislation. Thus we have Black

Americans who began to develop their own campaigns against lynching. Women such as Mary

Church Terrell and Ida B Well-Barnett were joined by many other in their protest against

lynching and racial discrimination. In 1935 an anti-lynching bill was proposed by two U.S.

Senators by the name of Edward Costigan and Robert F Wagner (Browne-Marshall, 2007, p.

180). The U.S. Senate refused to pass federal anti-lynching legislation and local anti-lynching

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laws were never enforced. Riots and lynching’s continued on for years but they did begin to die

down with no assistance from the law.

Present Day

The last reported modern lynching took place in 1998. On June 7th James Byrd Jr. was

tied to a pick-up truck, his throat was cut before they dragged him across the country roads.

James Byrd Jr. was dragged over two miles to his death in Jasper, Texas. His skin, blood, arms,

head and genitalia, and other parts of his body were scattered along the highway (Browne-

Marshall, 2007, p. 182). Three White men who were linked with a White supremacist group

were tried and convicted. Two of the men who were trying to become a part of the organization

received the death penalty. One of them received a life sentence; he will be eligible for parole in

2038.

According to Hill (2011), In 2005, the United States Senate officially apologized for

failing to pass anti-lynching legislation. In 2008, Congress approved the Emmett Till Unsolved

Civil Rights Crime Act, empowering the Department of Justice to investigate and prosecute

unsolved murderers and acts of racial violence during the civil right era.

Conclusion

Lynching arose from the ashes of a ruthless and costly war that put brother against

brother and father against son. The Civil War left a trail of blood and bitterness that twisted its

way through consecutive generations and set the stage for a fury of so called mob justice that

killed thousands of men, women and children, most of them black. And between the years 1880

and 1905, a period of twenty five years, not one person was ever convicted of any crime

associated with these killings. Lynchings are, by far the most extensive series of unsolved

murders in American history.

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Bibliography

Allen, J., & Littlefield, J. (2003). On looking: Lynching photographs and legacies of lynching

after 9/11. American Quarterly, 55(3), 457-478.

Browne-Marshall, G. J. (2007). Race, law, and american society. New York: Taylor & Francis

Group.

Gado, M. (2012). Carnival of death: Lynching in america. Retrieved from

http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/notorious_murders/mass/lynching/index_1.html

Hill, K. (2011). Lynching and the making of modern america. Reviews in American History, 39,

652-659.

Pfeifer, M. (2010). The northern united states and genisis of racial lynching: The lynching of

african americans in the civil war. The Journal of American History, 621-632.