Analysis Of The Book ' Fire Of A Canebrake ' : ' The Last Mass Lynching '

In the words of Miss Ida B. Wells: The student of American sociology will find the year of 1894 marked by a pronounced awakening of the public conscience to a system of anarchy and outlawry which had grown during a series of ten years to be so common, that scenes of unusual brutality failed to have any visible effect upon the humane sentiments of the people of our land. She is depicting a period of time in American history stained with the blood of hundreds of free African American men, women and children. These people were unjustly slaughtered through the practice of lynching within the South. Wells was an investigative journalist and was involved in exploring, reporting, publishing literature on, and eventually campaigning against the

Harris, Leslie M. In the Shadow of Slavery: African Americans in New York City, 1626-1863.

Wells-Barnett was an investigative journalist and was involved in researching, reporting, publishing pamphlets, and eventually campaigning against the historical tragedy known as lynching. She became aware of these atrocities occurring against African Americans at an alarming rate in the United States. Wells-Barnett had published a total of three pamphlets that had worked through the half-truths and outright lies to uncover the inhumane activity of lynching mob. In Mob Rule in New Orleans, Wells-Barnett stated, “Legal sanction was given to the mob or any man of the mob to kill Charles at sight by the Mayor of New Orleans, who publicly proclaimed a reward of two hundred and fifty dollars, not for the arrest of Charles, not at all, but the reward was offered for Charles’ body, “dead or alive.” (Wells-Barnett 842) This statement reflects the mindset of the majority of white Americans during this turbulent time. Consequently, Ida B. Wells-Barnett became not just a reporter of the facts, but a crusader for the cause of justice for

Although many believe that racism and segregation have declined over the years, The Washington Post notes, in a 2016 analysis, that black Americans are 2.5 times as likely as white Americans to be shot and killed by police officers (Lowery). In the 1930s and 1950s, Tom Robinson, Emmett Till, and the nine Scottsboro boys were sentenced to death after facing an all-white jury for a crime they did not commit. In 1931, nine, young, unemployed, black men were falsely accused of raping two white women, Ruby Bates and Victoria Price. Their sentence to death after facing an all-white jury sparked rallies and parades, which successfully changed the unfair verdict of their trial. Similarly, a fourteen-year-old boy named Emmett Till was unjustly murdered after allegedly whistling at a white store owner, Carolyn Bryant. A few days later, he was found in a nearby river, and his mother arranged for a public funeral to expose the racial prejudice her son faced in Mississippi. The perpetrators were acquitted of all charges when tried in front of an all white jury. In the Scottsboro incident, the Murder of Emmett Till, and To Kill a Mockingbird, innocent men were victims of the society’s racial prejudice and convicted of crimes they did not commit.

Wells provides a quote from the apologist John Temple Graves in which he claims lynch mobs are the only thing protecting white women from black men, and she uses strong diction to directly repudiate his reasoning. She claims that “All know [the apologists’ reasoning for lynching] is untrue”. This strong claim emphasizes her passion and knowledge in the reasoning behind the lynching. Furthermore, Wells clarifies that “The cowardly lyncher revels in murder, then seeks to shield himself from public execration by claiming devotion to woman. But truth is mighty and the lynching record discloses the hypocrisy of the lyncher as well as his crime,”. This claim confirms the racist reality of why many black people were lynched. Moreover, the use of the phrase “revels in murder” illustrates that the lynchers enjoyed the hangings, showing they were not for the punishment of crimes but, instead, for entertainment. To further elevate her claims and deny the lynching defenders, Wells provides a list of reasons why 285 people were lynched: “no cause, 10; race prejudice, 49;... making threats, 11...”. She asserts that these lynchings occurred mostly due to racial issues. By providing this list, Wells implies that few lynchings actually had to do with protecting white women; even further, she implies that many of the crimes were

First, ask yourself how would you feel after hearing the news that one of your family members had been lynched? Throughout the chapters 1-8, we can experience and observe the disheartening history of violence and lies. It is additionally an irritating depiction of a partitioned country on the very edge of the social equality development and an eerie contemplation on race, history, and the battle for truth. Throughout history, the conditions of the lynching, how it affected the legislators of the day, quickened the social equality development and keeps on shadowing the Georgia people group where these homicides occurred. During the 1900s until 19600s various African-Americans experienced various harsh conditions of violence, never being granted the right to vote and being segregated from whites based on their race and skin-color from their white masters. In general racism between whites and blacks can be seen throughout the globe during the era of slavery

In Chapter three of The Souls of Black Folk, W.E.B Du Bois discusses Booker T. Washington and some of his accomplishments for African Americans and also criticizes some of his lack of understanding in his propaganda that he could have done more in his position to progress African Americans status instead of trying to be accepted by the white community. Washington has been criticized by Du Bois because of his “submission” to the white view on African Americans and their rights Du Bois calling him “the most distinguished Southerner since Jefferson Davis” (Du Bois, 1903).

Let’s examine the reality of violence during the Reconstruction Era. In the document, “Southern Horrors- Lynch Laws in All its Phases, by Ida B. Wells-Barnett we see countless examples of the continued violence in the south against African-Americans. The slogan “This is white man’s country and the

. . but specifics [to him] didn’t matter because the victims were now symbols of injustice: a NAACP cause” (78). Especially given the long-past, over-60-years-old nature of the lynching, Wexler’s goal, and therefore also her writing, must more profound, and compelling, than this, and therefore she, unlike White, is interested in the specifics: “Roger and Dorothy Malcolm, and George and Mae Murray [the lynching victims] . . . I have tried to bring them to life” (266). Wexler succeeds in that, rather than merely mentioning these victims in the context of the lynching, she includes detailed biographies of each, as well as of their relations, and describes their actions long before and immediately leading up to the lynching, in an attempt to give the reader a better understanding of and greater empathy for them.

‘Fire in a canebrake’ is quite a scorcher by Laura Wexler and which focuses on the last mass lynching which occurred in the American Deep South, the one in the heartland of rural Georgia, precisely Walton County, Georgia on 25th July, 1946, less than a year after the Second World War. Wexler narrates the story of the four black sharecroppers who met their end ‘at the hand of person’s unknown’ when an undisclosed number of white men simply shot the blacks to death. The author concentrates on the way the evidence was collected in those eerie post war times and how the FBI was actually involved in the case, but how nothing came of their extensive investigations.

During the nineteenth century, lynching was brought to America by British Isles and after the Civil War white Americans lynching African American increased. Causing and bringing fear into their world. In the Southern United States, lynching became a method used by the whites to terrorize the Blacks and to remain in control with white supremacy. The hatred and fear that was installed into the white people’s head had caused them to turn to the lynch law. The term lynching means to be put to death by hanging by a mob action without legal sanction. So many white people were supportive of lynching because it was a sign of power that the white people had. “Lynching of the black people was used frequently by white people, their is no specific detail of how many times they had done it, but lynching of black people has lasted from 1882 to 1968. Lynching also is in fact a inhuman combination of racism and sadism which was used to support the south’s caste system,’’(Gandhi).

the prisoners were lucky enough to escape the being lynched when they were moved into Scottsboro. In this trial, nine young, black boys were charged with the rape of two white girls while on a train. This case was a major source of controversy in the 1930’s. “Despite testimony by doctors who had examined the women that no rape had occurred, the all- white jury convicted the nine, and all but the youngest, who was 12 years old were sentenced to death” (“Scottsboro”). The boys’ lawyer, Samuel Leibowitz, did not even get assigned to the case until the first day of the trial. “If he could show a jury that these nine boys were innocent, as the record indicated, the jury would surely free them. To Leibowitz, that was simple!” (Chalmers 35). However, it was not that simple. Many white citizens would not change their minds about

The great majority of people lynched between 1882 and 1930 were black. During that period there were almost 4800 recorded lynchings in the United States. There were many more, no doubt, but we know about 4800. 3400 victims of this mob justice were black. The period from 1889 to 1893 accounted for the worst years. 579 blacks were lynched as opposed to 260 whites. That is a ration of 2.2 blacks lynched for every white. This is a significant difference already, but only part of the story. By the end of the century the racial nature of lynching had revealed itself, completely and unmistakably. Between 1899 and 1903, 543 people were lynched in the United States -- men and women. Of that number only 27 were white. That is a ratio of 22 blacks lynched for every white.

The South had many brutal beating and lynchings of African-Americans. One horrific event was Emmett Till. Emmett was a 14 year old African-American boy that was originally from Chicago, Illinois, but he was visiting family in Mississippi. He was in town with his cousins and they went into a drug store to get bubble gum. On their way out, Emmit “flirted” with the woman at the cash register by saying “Bye, baby.” The woman was extremely offended. Her husband was the owner of the store and he was on a business trip, when he returned home the woman told him about what had happened and he was furious. On the night of August 28, 1955, in the middle of the night, the man got the woman’s brother and they went to Emmett’s Great Uncle Mose Wright’s house where Emmett was staying. They forced Emmett into the car and drove him to the Tallahatchie River. The men forced him to carry a 75 pound cotton-gin fan to the river bank. Emmett was forced to remove his clothes and the men beat him nearly to death. They brutally gouged out Emmett’s eye and shot him in the head. The cotton-gin fan was tied to the body and then thrown into the river. The body was found and recovered three days later on August 31, the body looked almost inhuman. The only way the body was identified as Emmett Till, was a ring that had been pasted down through the family that Emmett always worn. Till’s mother Mamie Bradley

Between 1890 and 1906, Black people were rejected from the area of politics, as southern states amended their constitutions to deny Black American citizens their voting rights that had been ratified by the Fifteenth Amendment. The beliefs of racial uplift, was an idea that placed responsibility on educated Black people for the well-being of the majority of their race. This was a reaction to the assault on African American civil and political rights, also known as “the Negro problem (Washington 8).” During this era, there were opportunities for Black people to become leaders of Black communities everywhere. African American leaders combated stereotypes by highlighting class differences among Blacks that believed in the stereotypes themselves. In 1903, W. E. B. Du Bois published the book, The Souls of Black Folk. He criticized "the old attitude of adjustment and submission" that had been expressed by Booker T. Washington in the Atlanta Compromise Address (Hill 734). Washington addressed that Southern Black people should work and submit to White political rule, while Southern White people guaranteed Black people the reception of basic educational and economic opportunities. Du Bois believed that full civil rights and increased political representation, would uplift the Black community during this time. African Americans needed the opportunities for advanced education to develop this sore of leadership, titled the “Talented Tenth”, an African-American intellectual elite