I Propose a Truth Commission on Lynchings Past
I read this article
http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/ideas/articles/2007/12/02/noose/?page=full
courtesy of erudito
and it got me to thinking.
From the 1880's (when Reconstruction ended) to the 1930's (when FDR's Presidency began to rein in the Southern Democrats) there were a lot of lynchings of black folk in the American South. I am talking here about everything from public whippings, at the low end of the scale, to public murders, often in gruesome manners. The claim was that these were to punish malefactors, but of course actual black criminals could easily be convicted: lynchings were a tool of terrorism, pure and simple.
The reason that the lynchers could get away with their crimes was that the state and local governments were overwhelmingly sympathetic to them. Indeed, county sheriffs and town mayors often presided at such affairs. Hence, little effort was made to conceal the identity of the persons involved in such undertakings.
This suggests a possible, belated remedy for the injustices involved.
Why couldn't an organization be formed for the purpose of collecting newspaper accounts (often with photographs) and photo-postcards (yes, some Southerners of that day were of such utter depravity that they commemorated these murders) and identifying some or all of the persons who carried out the lynchings.
Names. Biographies. Monuments. Burial places.
A list could be made and publicly posted on the Internet. And local committees could begin the task of striking their names from the rolls of honors of local history. Heck, I'd even be cool with moving their bodies to unconsecrated grounds.
Small consolation for the long-dead victims, but at least we could stop sucking up to the memories of their killers.
And if we found out a few living lynchers (lynchings continued until the 1960's) and dragged them out of the imagined comfort and safety of retirement to face some nasty last years in prison -- hey, that would just be icing on the cake :)
What do you think?
http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/ideas/articles/2007/12/02/noose/?page=full
courtesy of erudito
and it got me to thinking.
From the 1880's (when Reconstruction ended) to the 1930's (when FDR's Presidency began to rein in the Southern Democrats) there were a lot of lynchings of black folk in the American South. I am talking here about everything from public whippings, at the low end of the scale, to public murders, often in gruesome manners. The claim was that these were to punish malefactors, but of course actual black criminals could easily be convicted: lynchings were a tool of terrorism, pure and simple.
The reason that the lynchers could get away with their crimes was that the state and local governments were overwhelmingly sympathetic to them. Indeed, county sheriffs and town mayors often presided at such affairs. Hence, little effort was made to conceal the identity of the persons involved in such undertakings.
This suggests a possible, belated remedy for the injustices involved.
Why couldn't an organization be formed for the purpose of collecting newspaper accounts (often with photographs) and photo-postcards (yes, some Southerners of that day were of such utter depravity that they commemorated these murders) and identifying some or all of the persons who carried out the lynchings.
Names. Biographies. Monuments. Burial places.
A list could be made and publicly posted on the Internet. And local committees could begin the task of striking their names from the rolls of honors of local history. Heck, I'd even be cool with moving their bodies to unconsecrated grounds.
Small consolation for the long-dead victims, but at least we could stop sucking up to the memories of their killers.
And if we found out a few living lynchers (lynchings continued until the 1960's) and dragged them out of the imagined comfort and safety of retirement to face some nasty last years in prison -- hey, that would just be icing on the cake :)
What do you think?