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It puzzles me why some black people would try to divert attention from where it is most needed: black-on-black crime in our inner cities. A memorial to lynching victims will do nothing for people that are largely uninterested in history. Maybe a memorial for all the blacks killed by "mudda-fuggin-negus" would be more appropriate.
The op isn't black, neither am I. Why would you assume that those suggesting a memorial are? Anyway, crime is different from mobs sanctioned by society. And this is a history forum, so why woul you talk of those uninterested in history ?
The op isn't black, neither am I. Why would you assume that those suggesting a memorial are? Anyway, crime is different from mobs sanctioned by society. And this is a history forum, so why woul you talk of those uninterested in history ?
Interesting topic..
Problem I see, is that individual lynchings were different. Different players, different victims. All lynching victims may have been ultimately shortchanged due process.. but that doesn't mean every lynching target was an angel, worthy of memorializing. Often they were ppl accused, and held, and sometimes already convicted, on the most serious charges.
It's modern cultural-Marxist propaganda, that all lynchings were framed by the same racial & circumstantial elements. We don't know their potential guilt (or potential innocence) bcuz it often wasn't adjudicated before they were executed. But to memorialize a potential criminal, bcuz he/she was denied full justice, seems a holistically unworthy cause.. and it would lay aside objective scrutiny of each individual lynching (?)
I mean if Ted Bundy had been lynched by an outraged mob after he killed a woman, would he be worthy of memorializing, solely bcuz he suffered a miscarriage of due process..?
Do you really think for one minute that even a minimum of those people who were lynched did anything other than exist while black?
Public lynchings are an historical fact of American History and something that will probably happen again in the United States. Therefore, these locations should be marked, with some sort of memorial to officially identify the actual locations where such heinous events took place. These memorials would serve as an educational resource, as well as a place of reflection for Americans to pay tribute to those who died without unjustly. I support this project 100%.
So? As nei noted, I'm not black. I'm not gay or an immigrant or a Moslem, either, but that does not stop me from advocating for the rights of gays, immigrants or followers of Islam. Injustice is wrong. Bigotry is wrong.
A great many people in this country, black and white, are ignorant of the real price that previous Americans paid so that we can live in a country that's infinitely better for most Americans than it was in 1950 or 1900 or 1850. We need memorials to the victims of lynching -- and as Felix C mentioned in his original reply, not all lynching victims were blacks --so that we remember our real past, not the idealized, mythical one so often pushed in the popular media.
If you don't wish to read about lynching or if you prefer to pretend that lynching never happened, that's your business, but this is a history forum, and lynching was part of American history until relatively recently.
Public lynchings are an historical fact of American History and something that will probably happen again in the United States. Therefore, these locations should be marked, with some sort of memorial to officially identify the actual locations where such heinous events took place. These memorials would serve as an educational resource, as well as a place of reflection for Americans to pay tribute to those who died without unjustly. I support this project 100%.
Exactly. Memorials are important. Go to Washington and walk the memorials around the Tidal Basin. Go to Antietam and stand in the Bloody Lane. Stop at some little cemetery off some back road in upstate New York or at the edge of some little town in Nebraska.
OP, I agree there should be memorials for lynching victims, and the South needs to do it..for the same reason it was vital that SS concentration camps be retained. We should remember inhumanity as a means to insure it is never again tolerated.
PS; Symbols of the Confederacy should be viewed as treasonous. The USA has a flag, those who opposed it should not find theirs welcomed here.
OP, I agree there should be memorials for lynching victims, and the South needs to do it..for the same reason it was vital that SS concentration camps be retained. We should remember inhumanity as a means to insure it is never again tolerated.
PS; Symbols of the Confederacy should be viewed as treasonous. The USA has a flag, those who opposed it should not find theirs welcomed here.
While I think that symbols of the Confederacy should not be part of official symbols like a state flag or seal, I have no problem with them as part of private memorials by individuals or groups.
To those concerned that a plaque might include someone lynched who was guilty of their crime, so what. That kind of "concern" is an attempt to deflect a real travesty of justice. While I think the EJI is making a thorough attempt to be accurate, would it really matter if an unintentional mistake were made about a historical detail on a plaque? Especially since it could be corrected at a later date?
After all, our justice system was founded on the assumption we will make mistakes. It was designed with a presumption of innocence which means some guilty will go free. Our founding fathers chose this to try and convict as few innocent people as possible. They also wanted the punishment to fit the crime for the guilty. At least that's how it's supposed to work.
The alternative is to set up a system where the presumption is guilt. Unless the person can prove innocence, they get convicted. Southern Lynching followed this type of "justice," although the opportunity to prove innocence was considered optional, as was torture before the lynching.
Both the Black and White communities were harmed by the South's extensive lynching. I'm not equating the two communities' experience in any way. That would be wrong. I'm only pointing out that healing goes two ways. The EJI report addresses the psychological harm to Whites brought up in a culture that taught them this kind of violence was acceptable and a good choice.
There are a lot of people still alive who grew up when lynching was still happening and even more who have heard about it first hand. All groups involved need to talk about it. Everyone needs to be heard.
I've read the report summary. It's a worthwhile read and includes a link if you want a copy of the entire report.
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