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| FBI hunts last of the lynchers | ||
| 2007-03-11 | ||
In an effort to close a chapter in America's history of race hate, Washington is bringing elderly Klansmen to justice for killings carried out up to 60 years ago.
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| Posted by:Steve White |
| #9 I quite agree that by the '50's and '60's, lynching was far more racial in character, which doesn't say that there wasn't a lot of racial lynchings before then, or that race was always a factor. It should also be remembered that lynchings had been seen as a national, or even international, embarrassment for a long time (ex: the Scottsboro boys trial, which needed the calling out of the National Guard to prevent a lynching, in the 1930s.) What precipitated a lynch mob in that case was not the racial fight on the train, but the accusation of gang rape. The largest known incident of lynching in the US was 11 Italian-Americans in New Orleans in 1892. All told, perhaps 75% of known lynchings were racial in character. But many more were never recorded. I still think that they are unusual enough so that they should be distinguished from outright murder, armed fights, though it is a good question if they should be associated with homicidal vigilantism. |
| Posted by: Anonymoose 2007-03-11 17:57 |
| #8 I agree with OP. I grew up in central Alabama during the 50's and 60's. I know of 4 murders (lyinchings) that had nothing to do with anyone who was lynched breaking the law and everything to racial hatred. The people who did these deeds were either never prosecuted or were aquitted. Even after eye-witness testimony. People were very afraid of the Klan. I don't care if it takes a hundred years these people need to brought to justice. |
| Posted by: Deacon Blues 2007-03-11 16:31 |
| #7 Anonymoose, have you ever lived in the South? I doubt that boredom had anything at all to do with lynchings. I knew a couple of guys in high school whose fathers were members of the KKK. They never lynched anybody, but they did get together and whine and moan about "uppity n$$$$$s". The KKK was never much of a threat in my neighborhood. My dad told me about a lynching once. Apparently his dad and a few dozen other farmers got together and lynched another farmer because he was a thief. He was also the brother of the Parish sheriff. When the sheriff started making threats against men in the local community, they hanged a noose on his doorknob. Dad never said what happened after that. Anyone who WAS involved in a race-related lynching, from the guy who slipped the rope around the neck of a human being to the witnesses and hangers-on, need to receive their just punishment, regardless of when or where the incident occurred. |
| Posted by: Old Patriot 2007-03-11 16:12 |
| #6 Calling there murders "lynchings" does not do justice to either. Murder is murder and should be treated as such. Lynchings were often as not "democratic executions" of individuals arrested for heinous crimes. That is, those persons lynched often deserved it. But there is yet another ingredient: boredom. Few people understand today how crushingly boring large parts of the old South could be. Literally, the only entertainment was limited to tent revivals and lynchings. If some especially transient murderer was being held in a small town, they would be *the* topic of conversation for weeks. Mobs could be planned days in advance, and were probably common, of all things, on Wednesday nights. Why? Because Wednesday nights were and still are popular times for people to assemble for "bible readings". But any opportunity for a crowd to form could have the same result. The last element was an odd one: Pellagra. People whose diet consists mostly of corn often suffer from niacin deficiency. This was endemic to the US South until the 1950s, when it was learned it could be treated with brewer's yeast. One of the primary symptoms of pellagra is "aggression", and the "mean southerner" was an old stereotype of a southern man who would become "blind with rage" at the drop of a hat. The symptoms usually appear during spring, and increase in the summer due to greater sun exposure, which, not coincidentally, was when most lynchings occurred. |
| Posted by: Anonymoose 2007-03-11 13:59 |
| #5 I have no problem with them continuing this hunt; there's no statute of limitations on murder, and there shouldn't be. But I do share the frustration over the blindness towards minority racism. The last LA riot and the last Cincinnati riot were race riots; the rioters targeted people based on race, and were motivated by racial hatred. But it gets spun as anger over "police brutality" -- ignoring, and even suppressing the facts about the supposed brutality. For example, CNN joined a press conference given by the head of the Cincinnati FOP -- once he started to give the facts behind the "young men gunned down by police", they developed "satellite problems" and broke away from the press conference. |
| Posted by: Rob Crawford 2007-03-11 09:23 |
| #4 BINGO! RD nails it in one. If you're white you're automatically guilty of racism and sexism so whatever the poor victims of caucasian oppression feel inspired to mete out is not only legitimate but strongly deserved. Don't believe me? Ask why the case of Channon Christian and Christopher Newsom disappeared without a trace while we're still hearing about James Byrd and Emmett Till. CWII, coming soon to a location near you. |
| Posted by: Elminenter Thetch7845 2007-03-11 06:38 |
| #3 FBI hunts last of the lynchers exhibit #1: more evidence of the vestigial white mans burden What Besoeker said, there are huge numbers of hate-crimes committed everyday [2007] that are never prosecuted as crimes let alone hate-crimes. You see it's OK to mug, stab, rob, burn or intimidate white kids in every big city across America especially if the perp is black or Hispanic. How many hate crimes against whites are prosecuted as opposed to the other way around? How many hate crimes from 60 years ago against whites are given the resources that these crimes have been given? In the main why are the hate crime laws only enforced in one direction? Why are big city DAs loathe to recognize that prejudice and hate resides in the hearts of minorities as well as whites, and why do the DAs fail to recognize that minorities act out that hate with violence against whites? Political Correctness perhaps? |
| Posted by: RD 2007-03-11 04:24 |
| #2 The brutality of the crimes is shocking. Men, women and children were murdered in cold blood and broad daylight. They were shot, stabbed, bombed or beaten to death. Bodies were mutilated and hidden. We can certainly be thankful this type of thing no longer happens in D.C., Oakland, Atlanta, Detroit, Los Angeles. Nope, it's all over, no longer happens, all fixed. |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2007-03-11 00:23 |
| #1 "In an effort to close a chapter in America's history of race hate" What - did |
| Posted by: Barbara Skolaut 2007-03-11 00:16 |