Blog Assignment 3: Lynch Law in All Its Phases (ENG 101)

      After the Civil War "White Supremacy" was ever present. White Supremacy was use in many different situations, mainly as an overpowering action against the "Afro-American" culture. One action in particular that white supremacist used against the Afro-American culture was "Lynching". Lynching was the action of barbaric killing's by mob groups. This was practiced by 'grand' majority to the Afro-Americans. In this blog I will use text from the book "Southern Horrors and Other Writings" edited by Jacqueline Jones Royster with text introduced by Ida B. Wells, to discuss how the White Supremacist used 'their press' as defense to the brutal and untruthful executions of Afro Americans.
       There were many cases of "Lynching" that occurred to Afro-Americans that was unjustifiable, yet was constantly occurring based on the power of White Supremacy. The main and frequent accusation used against the Afro-Americans was their involvement in violations towards the 'white women'. The most common accusation was "rape", it was said that the Afro-American was abusing the white women, this of-course was based on made-up stories and were all untruthful. The white supremacist had the majority of power, their untruthful accusations was an example of the power they had over the Afro-Americans. They used in their defense, 'their own press' to explain in belief what they thought was being done to the 'white women'. An example of this action comes from a Memphis, Tenn. newspaper text, it states; "The lynching of three Negro scoundrels reported in our dispatches from Anniston, Ala., for a brutal outrage committed upon a white women will be a text for much comment on Southern barbarism" ("Daily Commercial" 62). The image of Afro-Americans in this case were viewed at as, "scoundrels", being wicked and evil. This case of three Afro-Americans being lynched was based on an accusation of a crime they all didn't commit. The facts behind this case was that in Memphis where this supposedly occurred, there had been no 'white women' outraged be an Afro-American.  The press was used as an explanation of untruthful events that the white man described occurred. This was an excuse used for the brutal crime the white supremacist committed in lynching the blacks.
           In another "white supremacist press", in Memphis, their verdict to the reasons behind their actions of lynching were, "Aside from the violation of white women by Negroes, which is outcropping of a bestial perversion of instinct, the chief cause of trouble between the races in the South is the Negro's lack of manners" ("Evening Scimitar" 63). This statement made in their press emphasizes the racial divides between both cultures. The Negro's were looked at as "bestial", describing them as inhuman like, this was the type of defense drawn against them. The truth behind both cases were simple, the "white women" that the Afro-Americans was lynched and executed for were all "open" to being sexually active with them. They all were actually fond of the black man, but was forced to draw charges of "rape" against them, this was due to threats they receive from the white supremacist.
            As shown in the examples above, white supremacy was used to overpower the Afro-American culture. Using 'lynching' as a form of punishment, was an excuse for untruthful accusations, as well as the racial divides between 'white and black' culture. The truth behind everything is that the white man overpowered the black man simply because of the color of his skin. Everything done was racist, as well as labeling 'America' the white man's country, even though it occurred after the civil war, where everyone was judged at as equal. That certainly, was a case of "reality v.s. law".