Reaction Paper

Lynching in the United States was the practice of killing people by extrajudicial mob action in the United States of America? chiefly from the late 1700s through the 1960s. This type of murder is most often associated with hanging? although it often included burning and various other methods of torture (Nicholas? p.180). Only rarely were lynchers punished? or even arrested? for their crimes. Lynching is often associated with white supremacy in the South after the American Civil War. The granting of civil rights to freedmen in the Reconstruction era (1865-77) aroused anxieties among white citizens? who came to blame African Americans for their own wartime hardship? economic loss? and forfeiture of social privilege (Dray? pg 13). African Americans? and whites active in the pursuit of equal rights? were frequently lynched in the South during Reconstruction? but lynchings reached a peak in the late 19th and early 20th centuries? when southern states enacted a series of segregation and Jim Crow laws to reestablish white supremacy. Notable lynchings of civil rights workers during the 1960s in Mississippi contributed to galvanizing public support for the Civil Rights Movement and civil rights legislation.

The Tuskegee Institute has recorded 3?437 lynchings of African Americans and 1?293 lynchings of whites between 1882 and 1968. Southern states created new constitutions between 1890 and 1908? with provisions that effectively disenfranchised most blacks? as well as many poor whites (Nicholas? p.180). People who were not permitted to vote were also not permitted to serve on juries? further excluding them from the political process (Dray? pg 13).

African Americans mounted resistance to lynchings in numerous ways. Intellectuals and journalists encouraged public education? actively protesting and lobbying against lynch mob violence and government complicity in that violence. The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP)? as well as numerous other organizations? organized support from white and black Americans alike. African-American women's clubs? such as the Association of Southern Women for the Prevention of Lynching? raised funds to support the work of public campaigns? including anti-lynching plays. Their petition drives? letter campaigns? meetings and demonstrations helped to highlight the issues and combat lynching. In the Great Migration? extending in two waves from 1910 to 1970? 6.5 million African Americans left the South? primarily for northern and mid-western cities (Nicholas? 135-154).

In March of 1892? Ida B. Wells? a journalist and former Memphis school teacher? started a crusade against lynching after three friends of hers were brutally murdered by a Memphis mob. Tom Moss and two of his friends? Calvin McDowell and Henry Stewart? were arrested for defending themselves against an attack on Moss' store. Moss was a highly respected figure in the black community? a postman as well as the owner of a grocery store. A white competitor? enraged that Moss had drawn away his black customers? hired some off-duty deputy sheriffs to destroy the store (Nicholas? 135-154). Moss and his friends? not knowing the men were deputies? resisted (Nicholas? 135-154). A gun battle broke out and several deputies were wounded. Moss? his ...