A Lingering Legacy of Inaction

History 343
Dr. Zecker
Nicole Sutherland
201503319
 During the era of reconstruction, a permit was required to hunt all but an African American, for
this was seen not only as a civil liberty but a civic duty. Following the emancipation of slaves in the
United States the black community faced a new and nearly as great a threat to life and liberty. All though
they were now in essence a “free people” they were hardly free from the threat of cruelty, violence,
slaughter and even bondage. Following the collapse of slavery, the United States faced extensive turmoil,
socially, culturally, politically and economically, particularly in the Southern States. As the American
south was nearly entirely dependent upon slavery for the support of their economy the end of the war
signaled a massive risk for economic collapse. Slavery had shaped the United States both economically
and culturally. The presence of slaves provided even the poorest of whites a particular degree of social
standing. After the Civil War, Southern whites brew immeasurable anger, for now they were on relatively
similar social standing to those they could once call property, whilst additionally fighting economic
destitution and increased competition within the labor market. Lynching became the most popular way of
resolving this anger. Racial terror lynchings were an act of barbarity designed to humiliate, control, and
terrorize African American men women and children throughout the years between the Civil War and the
Second World War. Most lynchings have been found to be comprised of one or more of six features; The
first they were often caused by a massively distorted fear of interracial sex, and as a result a fear of sexual
assault. The second, lynchings that were caused by allegation of other serious crimes, and assaults. The
third was simply minor social transgressions. The fourth were lynchings meant to ignite terror or violence
amongst the African American community. The fifth were the lynchings of sharecroppers, ministers and
community leaders who resisted injustice. The final feature was a spectacle lynching, with the simple
intention to terrorize the black and entertain the white. (Equal Justice Initiative, 2017) Between the years
1882 and 1986 an estimate of 4,743 individuals were lynched, while this number did include
approximately 1,297 white people, the lynchings were still racially motivated as most were sympathizers,
friends of the black community or civil rights activists. (NAACP, 2017) The horrors of the era of
lynching has been said to be one of America’s greatest shames. It is a construct resulting from the social,
economic and political climate of post-emancipation America, but moreover it is a testament to the
horrifying extent of the human capability.

Following the collapse of slavery the church sought ethical validation for the horrors of bondage.
In doing so the church argued that blacks were simply of a lesser species, that they were in a sense,
subhuman. As this proposition spread, disgust and anger developed with it. It was believed that Africans
were a cross breed of “orangutans and whites.” (Equal Justice Initiative, 2017) This theory combined with
the anger throughout the American South caused by the loss of the Civil War, the loss of slave labour and
the economic distress provided a foundation of anger, distain and resentment responsible for the social
climate provided for lynchings. As the movement was made to establish civil rights, anger rose. It was
argued that the implementation of citizenship rights essentially abolished the conceptualization of the
black man and made him white through legislation. Furthermore some blacks were able to develop
significant social status and wealth even against the still present systemic oppression. The success of
members too the black community served as a catalyst for anger and frustration particular in the
economic downfall of the cotton industry. (Equal Justice Initiative, 2017) As anger and resentment grew
so did the villainization of the former slaves, black men in particular. Black men were then characterized
as ruthless, hostile and barbaric. A social landscape of fear was developed amongst whites in response to
the system of widely held beliefs.
A growing fear sexual assault against white women was developed, fueled by the fear of
interracial sex. This unjustified terror lead to a massive influx of lynching of black men in particular.
Unjust accusation became a normative cause for lynching. Approximately a quarter of all racial lynchings
were a result of accusations of sexual assault or harassment. (Defina, 2011) Lynching was also used as,
what was seen as preventative measure. Men were lynched for social infractions as minor as gazing at, or
associating with white women in public. Lynching became a prominent means of controlling the black
population through fear. Moreover, it became a tool used to enforce Jim Crow. As the black community
began to thrive within the means of the reconstruction era. Black towns sprang up, movements for voting
rights, the establishment of businesses, and individuals began running for public office. (Equal Justice
Initiative, 2017) As a result, efforts were made to preserve white supremacy economically, socially and
culturally.
Violent white resistance was introduced in Pulaski, Tennessee, in late 1865 when six famed
Confederate veterans formed the Ku Klux Klan. The KKK was comprised primarily of wealthy and well
educated young men, most of whom later developed successful careers in business, law and politics.
Although the group was initially informal with a primary purpose of amusement, it rapidly grew with
social and political motivations. (Equal Justice Initiative, 2017) The KKK spread on a national scale
developing a hierarchical system with several leaders. It welcomed thousands of members from several
demographics amongst the white population including, farmers, politicians, lawyers, merchants, and
ministers. In the peak of the lynching era In York County, South Carolina, nearly the entire white male
population were members of the Ku Klux Klan. (Equal Justice Initiative, 2017) Members of the Klan
were seen far from extremists but rather heroes holding vast support within countless spheres of white
society.
The film “The Birth of a Nation,” said to be the birth of hollywood portrayed the Klansmen as the
true American heroes. Furthermore the film portrayed African American as a violent threat to society at
large. The films portrayal of colored people was so horrific that it was used as a recruitment tool for the
Ku Klux Klan up until the late 1970’s. (Smiley, 2016) Several other organizations such as the Knights of
the White Camelia and the Pale Faces shared similar aims to the KKK. Furthermore they shared
comparative terrorism tactics. By the 1868 presidential election, these groups were poised to act as a
unified para-military force supporting the cause of white supremacy throughout the South, there effects
having a prominent impact upon the election and the impeachment of President Andrew Johnson. (Equal
Justice Initiative, 2017) The social climate of the reconstruction era enabled the progression of terrorism
groups such as the Ku Klux Klan, but moreover it created as platform for celebration of the acts of
terrorism and the brutal deaths of countless African Americans.

The brutality inherent to the culture of lynching is comparable to few of the worlds greatest
atrocities. Moreover it speaks to the horrific extent of the human capacity. In the modern narrative of
American racial lynchings, history often portrays the murders to a simple and quick hanging conducted
by a small group of confederate extremists. Lynchings however were rarely performed as quick and
painless executions but rather as a lengthy spectacle of brutality and unimaginable torture. Historically
public executions have been used as method of control in order to punish the deviant and pressure the
general society to follow or alternatively face the same fate. (Foucault, 1977) Whilst this was certainly a
component of the racial lynchings, as the aims were in part to control the black population, these
lynchings did hold a particular element that separated them from a mundane execution; an additional
purpose was for the amusement of the white population.
During the reconstruction era a new form of execution was introduced; the spectacle lynching.
(Equal Justice Initiative, 2017) It was not uncommon for the lynching of an African American to draw a
crowd of thousands. Lynchings were often advertised in local papers, accompanied by articles
encouraging particular torture methods. Lynchings were often held in carnival like affairs. Families,
including children, would often bring picnics, food vendors would be available, printings of the mutilated
bodies would be distributed as postcards, even body parts of the victim would even be sold as souvenirs
to the spectators. (Equal Justice Initiative, 2017) The horrors of the torture involved in lynchings were
normalized to the extent that they were often considered family friendly events. Families would bring
picnics and there were often food vendors. It was not uncommon to see small white children playing
“lynching” games and mimicking a brutal lynching with dolls. The spectacle lynching was not solely used
with an intention of white amusement but moreover as a terror tactic against the black community. It was
not infrequent for African Americans to be forced to bear witness to the torture and murder of their own,
this sometimes-included black children or even family members of the victim. The body of the deceased
was often paraded around black communities, displaying the body in the town center or on the steps of
black churches. The bodies often held significant evidence of over-kill in order to extenuate the torment
of those forced to bear witness.
Terror and intimidation of African Americans became a prominent characteristic of southern
democracy by the 1870’s. Furthermore, the terror tactics were used not only to torment the black
community but also white sympathizers and activists. In 1907 a black man, Edward Johnson, accused of
rape in Chattanooga, Tennessee, had attained an extremely rare stay of execution by the Supreme Court,
only to be seized from the jailhouse, tortured and hung with his body riddled with bullets, pinned on the
corpse was a note reading “To Justice Harlan. Come get your n*gger now.” (Equal Justice Initiative,
2017) Victims of lynchings ranged significantly within the black community, with victims as young was
fifteen years old. The torture sustained by the victims varied greatly in terms or morbidity and cruelty,
however the severity of the crime to which they were accused held little to no impact upon their
extrajudicial sentence. Beyond the psychical torture of the victim psychological manipulation extenuated
the torment. Victims were often forced into degrading positions whilst publicly humiliated or in some
cases their loved ones were hurt in front of them; wives, mothers and daughters were often raped in front
of them. (Equal Justice Initiative, 2017)
Theses terror tactics were often used as a means of driving out the black population, aggressively
enforcing Jim Crow and amplifying the socially constructed portrayal of African Americans and also
deter any attempts at social progression. In areas where Blacks constitute the majority of the population,
and as Republicans began to constitute the majority of the vote in such areas, elections often gave way to
a bloody massacre, such as the 1873 Colfax Massacre. In Colfax, Louisiana where the vote was split
evenly in the regional election, the heat of approaching could be felt across the population. (Lewis, 2016)
President Ulysses Grant had sent federal troops to the region to support the Republican candidate. This
only served as a catalyst for racial violence.
The President’s movement sparked the rise of the insurgent group, “The White League.” Out of
fear of democrats gaining control an armed black militia group took control of the County Courthouse,
April of 1873. Swiftly after 150 members The White League, predominantly comprised Klansmen and
former confederate soldiers surrounded the courthouse. The two groups engaged in gunfire until the the
militiamen were forced to surrender, although this did not yield their slaughter. By the end of the
slaughter it was estimated that approximately 140 African Americans had been killed. (Lewis, 2016)
Despite the fact that the events had made nationwide headline only nine of the 150 White Supremacists
were charged. Lawyers of the victims had attempted to bring leaders of the group to justice in federal
court with trial for conspiracy convictions against the Enforcement Acts rather than murder. When the
case was eventually brought to the supreme court it was overturned where the Supreme Court ruled that
the Enforcement Act pertained solely to actors of the state. (Lewis, 2016) The Colfax Massacre set a
precedent for the legal response to hate crimes against African Americans. Furthermore it incapacitated
the federal government’s ability to respond in any way to hate crimes of an individual.

Throughout the reconstruction era, the government was more often than not absent or simply too
underdeveloped to aid and protect the lives of their black citizens. The bitterness and rage were high
following the confederate loss of the civil war and with that, revenge found popular support amongst the
white community. As a result flames of the lynching era were chaotic, ramped and persistent, however it
is to be understood that it was not inevitable. The persistence of lynching was dependent predominantly
upon both popular support and constant, strategic manipulation of the law. The most impactful example
of this was the Slaughterhouse Cases of 1873, orchestrated by John Campbell, a lawyer and former
confederate soldier. The Slaughterhouse cases concerned whether or not Butchers held the right,
according to the 14th Amendment, to operate a slaughterhouse within the city of New Orleans, as the law
outlawing it, interfered with their right to earn a living. Moreover The appeal to the Supreme Court
provided an opportunity to undermine the 14th amendment, the right to due process and equal protection
under the law. (McBride, 2006) The Slaughterhouse Cases narrowed the focus of the 14th amendment to
states withholding privileges and immunities belonging to American citizenship, rather than a state in
particular. In other words the case is only eligible to be a violation if it concerns a right belonging to all
American citizens rather than a law of a particular state.(McBride, 2006) Furthermore the ruling specified
that a state is not required to grant any form of special privileges, for example the right to own a
slaughterhouse, to its citizens. In essence the Slaughterhouse cases provided a platform to undermine the
14th amendment, to which was passed with the primary purpose of protecting the former enslaved.
President Grant had pressed for the collapse of racial injustice and violence by passing the Enforcement
Acts of 1870 and the Ku Klux Klan acts of 1871. These laws ensured that in the event of a violation of
civil rights any citizen is able to see help directly from the federal court. Despite massive support from the
federal government, violence continued in south, enraging Northern Republicans and undermining federal
officials legitimacy. The political landscape within the south was dramatically altered following the
Reconstruction Acts of 1867, which both granted black men the right to vote whilst simultaneously
disenfranchising former Confederates. Furthermore it imposed military control over the south and stated
any states seeking readmission to the Union must first ratify the Fourteenth Amendment. By July of 1868
The Fourteenth Amendment had been universally adopted within the United States, to the dismay of
Democrats. In response Southern states attempted to delegitimize federal laws by passing their own anti-
lynching laws that weren't enforced. Furthermore state officials adopted the rhetoric that federal lynching
laws constituted racial “favoritism.” (Equal Justice Initiative, 2017) It was argued that with the status of
citizenship, African Americans were not entitled to any form of “special protection” over other citizens.
Assaults upon the legal architecture of the Enforcement Act continued whereby it was argued that it was
unconstitutional when applied to non-state actors. In essence the federal government had little guarantee
of the application of the Enforcement Act on lynch mob members as they were private persons and not
acting upon state accord. As lynch mobs were extrajudicial in nature they held no relation to the 14th
Amendment. (Equal Justice Initiative, 2017) Therefor lynch mob members, if charged were more often
than not, held on trial for murder, in front of a jury of their typically all white peers, most of whom
supported the means of popular justice.

While the era of lynching depicts one of the most horrific extents of the human capability, it also
provides a conceptualization of the bravery man is capable of portraying. Despite the overwhelming
danger of doing so, several bodies of opposition began erupt. Many of these bodies contributed
significantly to the progression of the civil rights movements in later years, some of which continue to
thrive today. The United States’s longest standing and most effective racial justice organization was
established in response to the upsurge of lynchings; The National Association for the Advancement of
Colored People (NAACP.) The NAACP was founded as a direct response to the 1908 attacks in
Springfield Illinois. (Equal Justice Initiative, 2017) Following the attacks it had become apparent to the
North that racial violence was not an issue exclusive to the south, but was rather a threat to the entire
nation. It was not exclusively African American’s who were victims of lynchings, several whites were
subjected to the same brutality as punishment for displaying support for African Americans. Despite this
risk, the founding members of the NAACP were predominantly white. (Equal Justice Initiative, 2017)
The NAACP was one of America’s first organizations in which white and black, male and female
members worked together on a public level. Several other committees were founded including the White
Southerners Committee on Interracial Cooperation in 1919, and the Association of Southern Women to
Prevent Lynching in 1930. Opposition to the racial violence took several forms. Many groups too up arms
in self defence and also began to stand guard in protection of prisoners. Economic retaliation proved to be
a fairly effective strategy in response o the violence. Many African Americans refused to work, in
addition to boycotting particular businesses and and sometimes burning the businesses of mob members.
(Equal Justice Initiative, 2017) Any form of defiance proposed significant threat to one’s life, this
however did not stop the black community from defending their own, and hiding fugitives.

The horrors of the lynching era created a legacy of violent racial injustice with remnants of the
memory sustaining its effect still today. This disturbing period in American history was a product of the
social, political and economic climate following the emancipation of the slaves. However the horrors and
the sheer magnitude of the atrocities could be compared only to genocide and slavery its self. The state
failed the African American population throughout the years of brutality but also following it. A popular
narrative was developed by the general population that Lynchings were infrequently conducted solely by
small groups of radical extremists. Following the end of the lynching era there was not a continued effort
to attain truth and reconciliation. In order to heal a nation after an atrocity transitional justice methods
must be implemented. This was one of America’s greatest failures. To heal a nation from mass violence,
the victim must be recognized. Their pain must be hard, engaged, acknowledged but moreover,
remembered. Furthermore the offenders must at least be recognized for their horrors, if not brought to
justice. This is often achieved through criminal tribunal, truth commission, reparations projects and to
preserve and the memory, memorials must be erected. (Stan, 2013) There are very few monuments
commemorating the slaughter of the African American population and the torture of individuals
throughout the united states. Many of these monuments rather further devalue the victims suffering,
where languages is used to convey a battle rather than a massacre. Furthermore monuments of the
offenders litter United States’ soil. Several statues of Confederates and Klansmen have been proudly
erected for decades, including the statue of General Nathan Bedford Forrest, founder of the KKK.
America’s great failure to recognize the extent of this violent injustice can clearly be seen in the injustice
of the legal system today, where African Americans are murdered out of suspicion, where only 13% of
the population constituted the majority population within prison walls and 42% of inmates on death row.
(NAACP, 2017) The atrocities enacted throughout the reconstruction era is a testament to horrific
capability of brutality and cruelty of man, but perhaps the greatest horror is it’s lingering legacy of
inaction.
Works Cited

CalvinJohn Smiley & David Fakunle (2016) From “brute” to “thug:” The demonization
and criminalization of unarmed Black male victims in America, Journal of Human
Behavior in the Social Environment, 26:3-4, 350-366

Defina, Robert, and Lance Hannon. "The Legacy of Black Lynching and Contemporary
Segregation in the South." The Review of Black Political Economy 38, no. 2 (2011): 165-81.

Equal Justice Initiative, Lynching in America: Confronting the Legacy of Racial Terror (3d Ed.,
2017).

Foucault, Michel, and Alan Sheridan. Discipline and Punish: The Birth of the Prison. London:
Penguin Books, 1977.

"History of Lynchings." NAACP. 2017 http://www.naacp.org/history-of-lynchings/.

Lewis, Danny. "The 1873 Colfax Massacre Crippled the Reconstruction Era." Smithsonian.com.
April 13, 2016.

McBride, Alex, ”The Supreme Court . The First Hundred Years . Landmark Cases .
Slaughterhouse Cases (1873) | PBS." THIRTEEN - MEDIA WITH IMPACT. 2006.

Stan, Lavinia. Encyclopedia of Transitional Justice. Vol. 1. Cambridge University Press, 2013.