the American Dark Ages 1940-1969
In the shadow of a day, we will never forget, in December of 1941 our country suffered a horrendous loss as the Japanese bombed our naval base at Pearl Harbor. On this day 2,403 men and women alike were killed, 1,178 wounded. This count consisted of Marines, Army personnel, Navy soldiers, and even civilians.
One would think that in the light of such a horrific event, the US would truly work to set aside its internal differences between men and strive with more vigor to truly become what it claims to be as â ONE Nation Under Godâ Â But unfortunately, even this isnât quite enough. Even though there was a multitude of non-violent movements in the direction towards true civil rights and equality to all men under our flag, America still manages to be a Neanderthal of a country, perpetuating its tradition of hate crimes, especially throughout the southern states.
All through the 19th-century whites have utilized lynch laws and the establishment of lynch mobs as a means to control the black community through methods of inflicting fear in order to hold on to the fleeting idea of white supremacy.Â
written in 1905, by the author James E. Cutler The Lynch-Laws were the first actual intelligent driven study detailing the practice of lynching and its significant to the United States.
a common misconception about lynchings is that lynchings stop at hangings and shootings, however, Lynchings extend to burning at the stake, maiming, dismemberment, castration, and other hideous types of physical torture. This is all more or less brought on to sustain a type of social caste system in the South. Lynching, just like every other method of dehumanization, was seen as the most effective means of control.
All through history books and criminal reports there are multiple pseudo-statistics covering the number of lynchings in America however, biases restrict the actual numbers, at least prior to 1882. (chicagotribune.com) Following the Chicago Tribuneâs report, the Tuskegee Institute produced a report in 1892 where they began to make a systematic composition of lynching statistics. Beginning in 1912, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People kept an independent record of lynchings.
Even the statistics represented in historical records were based on the numbers reflected in local newspapers , however, because of the sheer size of the south and its more rural nature,a lot of information either fell to the side or was misrepresented by the basis of the areas. it is easy to assess that lynchingâs escaped publicity in the press, therefore, there are mistakes in the available lynching statistics.
Today there are many different resources with these numbers, however, they are all still donât line up with each other.The NAACP lynching statistics give a higher report than the Tuskegee Institutes figures. Â Some historians consider conservative. For example, in 1914, Tuskegee Institute reported fifty-two lynchingâs for the year, the Chicago Tribune reported fifty-four, and The Crisis, the official organ of the NAACP,gave the number as seventy-four.
Most would find these discrepancies concerning, however, they are due to the fact these figures are a reflection of what was considered lynching, and other factors that would sway the numbers.Â
The Tuskegee Institute has it listed that, between the years 1882 and 1951, 4,730 individuals were lynched in the United States:
3 The largest number of lynchings occurred in 1892. Of the 230 persons lynched that year, 161 were Blacks and sixty-nine whites.
It is documented that in the 19th-century blacks werenât the only individuals to be lynched but whites, Asian immigrants, as well as Mexican immigrants.
from 1830 to 1850 a large portion of the individuals in the U.S that were lynched were indeed white , however, by the 1890â˛s, the percentage of black victims skyrocketed the total number of Black lynching victims were twice the number of white victims.
Lynchings were not isolated in any one given area of the U.S . however,a larger portion of them was concentrated in southern border states.
The basisâ on which blacks were lynched, included but were not limited to,: assault, rape, attempted rape, robbery and theft,  insulting a white persons, and miscellaneous offenses such as disputing with a white man, trying to register to vote, unpopularity, self-defense, testifying against a white man,attempting to form or engaging in a romantic relationship with a white woman,, and peeping in a window.  ( Tuskegee Institute records through 1951)
More often than not the individual accused of the crime was not always guilty. Â A special study by Arthur Raper he noticed 1/3 of the victims were falsely accused and there was also a multitude of cases in which mobs attacked the wrong person.
The racist myth of Blacks uncontrollable desire to rape white women was utilized as a device to support lynchings of Blacks.
Most people who formed the lynch mobs were more often than not ,working class laborers or farmers who were in the same socioeconomic groups as most blacks and saw them as a threat to their lively hood as they were competition for jobs and the like.
It was more often than not that lynchers were rarely ever given concequence in court or even sentenced. The judge, witnesses and, jurors were usually all white and in agreement with lynchers.Â
The participants in lynch mobs ( even if they were actually arrested ,which was rare) They were usually let go with very little to no consequences. Arthur Raper estimated, from his study of one hundred lynchings, that at least âone-half of  lynchings occur with police officers participating.â
 W. E. B. DuBois was correct when he stated: ââŚthe white South feared more than Blacks dishonesty, ignorance, and incompetency, Blacks honesty, knowledge, and efficiency.â
From 1892 to about 1905 we see a slow decline in lynchings. There was an annual average of sixty-two lynchings for the years 1910 to 1919. Although, beginning in 1923 lynchings began to grow markedly fewer,and finally in the1930s and 1940s it became more rarer. During these two decades, the annual rate of lynchings dropped to about ten and three. Even though the actual frequency of lynchings declined after 1892, the percentage of Black victims increased.
This is another clear cut example of the atrocities of our countries past, atrocities that make most shudder in disgust. It is difficult to see the full ironies of this situation without considering both the vehement disgust with the acts of people in the past alongside  the unfortunate fact that all of this is still happening in the 21st century with little notice and the fact that is even treated jokingly.Â
It is said that between 1882 and 1968, close to 5,000 lynchings (73% of the victims were black) took place on American soilâ It is also said that this estimate does little to account for the many unknown individuals who have lost their lives due to the terrors of white supremacy.
 According to Richard Perloff, A Professor of Communication at Cleveland State University writes in his own study on Lynching in the U.S. That the reasoning behind the remaining presence of lynching is in part due to the Medias negligence in reporting the details of these ongoing atrocities. Â
Our damnation of the individuals in our countries past in light of our current lack of progress is not only troubling but seriously worth noting.Â
NAACP. Thirty Yeard of Lynching in the United States, 1889-1918 (New York, 1919). A historical survey of lynching.
Cutler, James E. Lynch Law (New York, 1905). A historical study of lynchings in the U.S.
http://academic.csuohio.edu/perloffr/lynching/
http://academic.csuohio.edu/perloffr/lynching/
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dr-david-j-leonard/lynching-happens-every-40-hours_b_1679948.html
http://law2.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/shipp/lynchingyear.html
http://archives.chicagotribune.com/1882/07/05/page/8/article/rumors-of-lynching
http://www.nationalww2museum.org/learn/education/for-students/ww2-history/ww2-by-the-numbers/pearl-harbor.html?referrer=https://www.google.com/
http://192.203.127.197/archive/bitstream/handle/123456789/131/TCA%20final.pdf?sequence=1
http://www2.lib.unc.edu/mss/inv/r/Raper,Arthur_Franklin.html
