The Magpie

History

Lynching were perptuated against all communities in all areas of the United States. However, racial terror lynchings against African Americans were specifically designed torment, terrorize, and destroy Black communities.

Following the end of enslavement, many practices and systems were put in place to keep the Black community subjugated to the white ruling class. This was especially prevalent in the South. While white-washed school history classes will paint racial terror lynchings as rare acts of violence by racist mobs, they were, in fact, an integral tool of white supremacy.

“The lawlessness which has been here described is like unto that which prevailed under slavery. The very same forces are at work now as then. The attempt is being made to subject to a condition of civil and industrial dependence, those whom the Constitution declares to be free men.” –Ida B. Wells

Racial terror lynchings served numerous purposes in maintaining systemic white supremacy. Lynchings were often treated as a spectacle, with many having an even carnival-like atmosphere as a warning to local African American communities. Lynchings served as a constant warning to African American communities throughout the country that they were never truly safe. At any moment, for any reason, the same fate could befall them simply because of their race.

“The Paris, Texas, burning of Henry Smith, February 1st, has exceeded all the others in its horrible details. The man was drawn through the streets on a float, as the Roman generals used to parade their trophies of war, while the scaffold ten feet high, was being built, and irons were heated in the fire. He was bound on it, and red-hot irons began at his feet and slowly branded his body, while the mob howled with delight at his shrieks…” –Ida B. Wells

Organizations like the Equal Justice Initiative (EJI) focus on a specific time period in U.S. history. EJI specifically investigates lynchings reported between 1877-1950. Over years of research, EJI has found over 4,400 reported cases of racial terror lynchings during this period.

However, it is important to note that the actual number of victims is much higher, as so many names have been lost to history.

“Here’s to the State  of Mississippi / Where underneath her borders, the Devil draws no lines / If you drag her muddy rivers, nameless bodies you will find / Oh, the fat trees of the forests have hid a thousand crimes…” – ‘Here’s to the State of Mississippi’ by Phil Ochs

This horrific period of violence continues to have a lasting impact on Black communities today. And like many white supremacist practices, it also adapted to meet the current moment. Today, it manifests in increased police violence towards people of color. It can also be seen in disproportionate incarceration and death penality rates for the Black community, particularly Black men.

“You’re dramatically more likely to get the death penalty if the victim is white than if the victim is Black; and if the defendant is Black and the victim is white, then it’s a much greater chance of getting the death penalty.” –Bryan Stevenson, EJI Founder

Themes

-Lynchings are defined by their extrajudicial nature. It is impossible to know whether or not the victims committed the crimes they were accused of because that fact-finding opportunity (i.e. a fair trial judged by a jury of their peers) was deprived from the victim.

“In these cases the one alleging the assault only has to identify somebody, and that somebody dies without ever an opportunity to establish his innocence.” –The Washington Bee on the lynching of Charles Whitley

-Many lynchings took place when Black men and boys were accused of sexual impropriety or assault by white women. In some cases, these relationships were consensual affairs that the white women were attempting to cover up.

“…A new cry, as false as it is foul, is raised in an effort to blast race character, a cry which has proclaimed to the world that virtue and innocence are violated by Afro-Americans who must be killed like wild beasts to protect womanhood and childhood.” –Ida B. Wells

-Many mainstream news outlets of the time paint a whitewashed picture of racial terror lynchings. They are routinely biased towards the white lynch mob and often use dehumanizing language to describe the Black victims.

“…in a majority of cases no sufficient care is taken to secure the right party, and an appetite for blood seems to be gratified if some ‘Negro brute’ is made to dangle at the end of a rope.” –The Washington Bee on the lynching of Charles Whitley

-The further South you go, lynchings are more likely to be more drawn out and involve torture. Lynchings across the country were often treated as an outing and a spectacle for the local white communities.

“Times without number, since invested with citizenship, the race has been indicted for ignorance, immorality and general worthlessness declared guilty and executed by its self-constituted judges. The operations of law do not dispose of negroes fast enough, and lynching bees have become the favorite pastime of the South.” –Ida B. Wells

-Accountability for victims is exceedingly rare (if it even happened at all). Even in cases where we know the identities of mob members, almost no one has ever been held accountable for their role in a lynching.

“The coroner’s jury returned a verdict that Garfield King came to his death at the hands of unknown parties. It is evident also that there is a sameness in the verdicts rendered in such cases.” –The Baltimore Sun regarding the lynching of Garfield King

-Local law enforcement and governments are often accomplices in lynchings, either by direct involvement or tacit compliance with the mob.

“So bold have the lynchers become, masks are laid aside, the temples of justice and strongholds of law are invaded in broad daylight and prisoners taken out and lynched, while governors of states and officers of law stand by and see the work well done.” –Ida B. Wells

Thomas Shipp & Abram S. Smith

August 7, 1930  •  Marion, Grant County

Schoolteacher Abel Meeropol, who wrote the famous anti-lynching anthem “Strange Fruit”, cites seeing a photograph of Shipp & Smith’s lynching as the catalyst for writing it. He stated that the photo, “haunted him for days”.

According to the Equal Justice Initiative, Shipp & Smith’s narrative is as follows:

Learn more about Thomas Shipp & Abram S. Smith:

“Thousands Lynch Two Black Men in Marion, Indiana”

Recent News:

“Family of Marion, Ind., lynching victims opposes proposed memorial”

“Last-known lynching in Indiana included in National Memorial for Peace and Justice”

A school portrait of Thomas Shipp at age 14. (Credit: Cameron Family / America’s Black Holocaust Museum).

The front page of The Indiannapolis Star after their lynching.

A newspaper article of Shipps and Smith’s lynching, including the infamous photo that catalyzed the anti-lynching song “Strange Fruit”. (Credit: Newspapers.com).

John Simms

June 14, 1875  •  Annapolis, Anne Arundel County

John Simms was lynched in an area of Annapolis known as Perry’s Gate or Simms Crossing. Like many victims of lynching, Simms was accused of sexual assault against a white woman.

According to an interview provided by The Washington Star, Simms stated that he was born into enslavement in Henrico County, Virginia. He had worked for several years on oyster boats, worked in Baltimore County the fall before his murder, and traveled to Annapolis by walking along the Baltimore and Potomac Railroad. He was around 25 at the time of his death.

According to the Maryland Lynching Memorial Project, Simms’ narrative is as follows:

Learn more about John Simms:

Maryland Lynching Memorial Project Archives

Maryland State Archives

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An excerpt from The Daily Gazette reflecting the common practice in refusing to seek justice in lynching cases: even when someone in the lynch mob is recognized, the jury almost always rules that death befell the victim, “at the hands of persons unknown”.

A newspaper article on Simms’ lynching.

Photos of Howard Cooper’s memorial marker in Towson, MD.

Social media post on Howard Cooper from the Maryland Lynching Memorial Project.

An article from The Evening Star printed on April 7, 1885. It warns against moving Cooper back to Towson from Baltimore, as there would be no protection for him against Towson lynchers. Just before he was murdered by the lynch mob, Cooper was transferred back to the Towson jail.

Howard Cooper

July 12, 1885  •  Towson, Baltimore County

Cooper’s narrative is shared on the EJI marker dedicated in his memory outside of the old Baltimore County Jail in Towson, which reads, as follows:

Learn more about Howard Cooper:

Maryland Lynching Memorial Project Archives

Maryland State Archives

“Do you ask the remedy? A public sentiment strong against lawlessness must be aroused. Every individual can contribute to this awakening. When a sentiment against lynch law as strong, deep and mighty as that roused against slavery prevails, I have no fear of the result.

It should be already established as a fact and not as a theory, that every human being must have a fair trial for his life and liberty, no matter what the charge against him. When a demand goes up from fearless and persistent reformers from press and pulpit, from industrial and moral associations that this shall be so from Maine to Texas and from ocean to ocean, a way will be found to make it so.” –Ida B. Wells

A flag flying from NAACP headquarters in New York. It flew for the first time in 1936 in response to the lynching of A. L. McCamy in Dalton, Georgia.

Sources and Further Reading:

1. “Lynching in America: Confronting the Legacy of Racial Terror”. The Equal Justice Initiative (EJI)

2. “LYNCH LAW IN ALL ITS PHASES”. Speech given by Ida B. Wells on February 13, 1893.