Who Is Lynching?

Lynchings were a real threat to African Americans in the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. They created a lot of fear in the African American community especially in this time period. Between 1882 and 1969, 4,743 people lynchings occurred. In 1882, African Americans accounted for forty-six percent of lynchings. Yet from 1900 to 1910, African Americans represented eighty-nine percent of lynchings.

They painted their face black color, and made their mouth red color. Few white people treat very bad African American. They destroy their property. They killed a lot of people who were innocent such as children, elderly, and youth. Some white people did not even think about that those people were human like them. For example, “Toms,” “Sellouts” were absolutely ignorant of themselves, their history and what they did. I think, they change their behavior when they were educated. However, that people truly did not understand the background and culture of African American. Every good think African American does. White people want to use it. Usually, they did not allow them to do anything because they want to control them.

The 1930’s was a decade of extremely hard times, following the stock market crash and an extreme depression. In spite of the tremendous hardships in America during this decade, it also became a time of great music that is still remembered today. Jazz music was highly popular in this time, and Billie Holiday was a famous jazz performer. She stood out from many other musicians because of her intense and passionate performances. Jazz arose from “unacceptable” segments of society, but quickly grew like wildfire. We often think of the 1930’s as the decade that jazz became civilized, and famous throughout popular culture through the work of pioneering artists like Billie Holiday. People did not own televisions or cable, so radio was their main source of entertainment, and music during this decade was both up beat and a source of relaxation. “Strange Fruit” defied musical category because it was considered too artsy to be folk, and too explicitly political to fit into jazz. This is why “Strange Fruit” became such a powerful phenomenon. Many other artists later took on this song, changing the genre but still portraying the same message. Nina Simone dramatized “Strange Fruit” in the context of the Civil Rights Movement. More important artists like Jeff Buckley, Rene Marie, Labor Camp Orchestra, and many others made their own rendition on the song, still leaving all of their audiences moved by the powerful imagery of the lyrics.

‘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.

The argument that the author is trying to prove is that there has been numerous of lynching events in America but it has progressed into different levels over the years to prevent African- Americans from getting a voice in America’s society. Such as, using lynching as punishment for people’s actions that were not accepted to the public community, a source of intimidation and protection of white women. Majority of white men and women tried every way to keep African- Americans at the bottom of society. Like, when blacks were free from slavery however were still not able to participate in politics, go to the best schools and were only able to work for the low paying jobs. Blacks

Before and during the Civil War it was not uncommon for masters to physically harm their slaves, often times hurting them just enough so that they didn't die. But now as slavery was abolished, harm still came to those who were free. The only difference was that it had a new name (lynching) and some of the reasoning behind it. White southern leaders felt threatened and thought that their rights were the ones being threatened. They saw the North trying to elevate the colored population in the South, holding the freedmens' rights above the white population. Those men then began retaliating against those freedmen and any of their supporters. Where slavery usually involved the harming of the slave, lynching involved both white and black people, men and women. Many massacres occurred during this time of Reconstruction, most of them could have been avoidable if the North had stricter laws and higher security in places with high

Blacks were treated with tremendous cruelty in many different ways. Black lives before the civil rights movement were treated cruel and unfair. African Americans did not have the same opportunities that they have today. Before the movement they could not get an education, a good job, or a place to live. These men and women who worked for white landowners were pretty much treated like slaves. They were barely paid anything for the work that they did. Many blacks lived in the streets and did not even have a place to get out of the weather. Due to these factors many blacks lived in poverty and were treated very cruel. A staff Writer wrote, “For black Americans, the pre-Civil Rights era was a time of danger and turmoil, as they set out to claim

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).

Indians, Asian Americans and African Americans were subjected to cruelty because they were not the ideal American. Racism was one issue that was consistently ignored: the plight of African-Americans in the United States. African-Americans were faced with consistent racism in the form of segregation in public spaces, lynchings, disenfranchisement from the political process, and no access to quality healthcare, education and housing. To counter these injustices, African-American reformists also emerged to expose and then fight for equal rights in the United States. Ironically and tragically, the Progressive era coincided with years when thousands of blacks were lynched by racist mobs. Progressives did nothing about segregation and lynching for two reasons: (1) They shared in the general prejudice of their times and (2) they considered other reforms such as lower tariffs to be more important than anti-lynching laws because such reforms benefited everyone in American society, not just one group. African-American leaders strongly disagreed and took action on their own to alleviate conditions of poverty & discrimination. Ending racism took a toll on many, but ended up making it worth it in the long run - everyone is equal and should be treated

The Jim Crow Era was an era that had anti-Black laws and an all-white justice system (Lecture 11/06/13). Some of the laws included Black men not being allowed to shake a white man’s hand, could not offer to light a women’s cigarette, Black couples were not allowed to show public displays of affection (PDA), and Black people could not eat with white people (Lecture 11/06/13). There was several other little laws that were anti-Black. Racism was huge during the Jim Crow Era, for example, the use of bad language towards Blacks were in books and newspapers (11/06/13). Institutional racism also existed with voting and lynching. Only white democrats could vote in primaries and over a half of white police officers participated in lynching (Lecture 11/06/13). The lynching of Black people went on for a long time, from 1882 through 1968 (11/06/13). One historical event that was violent towards Blacks was the Scottsboro Boys in 1931. There was nine unemployed Black men that were

Billie Holiday was born on April 7, 1915 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Her birth name is Eleanora Fagon, she is the daughter of Sarah Fagon also known as Eleanor Fagon and her father Clarence Holiday. Her parents had her at a young age the mother was only thirteen and the father fifteen years old. Her father was a musician he left Billie and her mother to pursue his career as a jazz guitarist. Billie didn’t have much of a great life growing up her mother had her at a very young age, not having the support of her parents and Billie’s father leaving them both. Her mother couldn’t take care so she sent her to live with Sarah’s older half-sister. She had many ups and down throughout her life. As, a child not having much of her parents in her life, trouble with substance abuse, meeting men who were only interested in her money, and arrested many times in her life.

The African Americans first came to America from other lands. They were taking from their homes and brought to America to be slaves to do the white man's bidding. They faced inhuman, cruel treatment, and unfair punishments for many years until the Civil War came. The Union ended up winning the war causing the slaves to gain their freedom and independence, but even after they were freed they still faced many difficulties and discrimination from the white men and woman.

Billie Holiday, an African American singer and songwriter from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania who has finally had enough of all the racism and inhumanity in her life. She has released a song on Monday of March, 1929, called "Strange Fruit", speaking of many African Americans Being accused of something wrong, then being hung from a tree, hence the reference "Strange Fruit." Lynching is an activity mostly carried out by a group of men to scare another group or minority by public execution without a legal trial. The execution can be done in many different ways, the most common was hanging. There were many different ways for people to be lynched.

In the past racism was something of the norm, from being treated like animals to also being taken as a joke. We as African Americans have gone through it all, and today I as a proud African American will talk about the uprising and the downfalls of my people. Anyhow during the uproar of segregation African Americans encountered degrading acts towards them as bad as seeing their moms, dads, brothers, and sisters being lynched. However such terrifying acts came to a minor halt when the murder of Emmett Till arose.

The poem’s words echo through your mind, revealing a haunting display. Eleanora Fagan, professionally known as Billie Holiday, performed Strange fruit. She sang the poem not in a melody, but in a screeching tone creating an alarming show. The timbre of her voice’s pitch was intense. In other words, the way Billie Holiday sang Strange Fruit in a serious voice, confirms that the poem is not to joke about because it is based on a true story. It is important to realize, that the poem relates to history because it demonstrates how demented racism dominated in the