Today, in my AAS 362 class we discussed the monstrosity of lynching! Yea i know you're probably like why am I sad because of something that happened so long ago but I say to you how can you not be. Literally thousands of innocent (mostly black and male) individuals were viciously tormented, tortured, and hung from trees for really no apparent reason. Imagine having a close relative of yours being killed this way then you have to go and retrieve his body from the tree. What a sight! I can't even imagine how that hurts because I know seeing my two brothers in that predicament I would probably go insane!!!
We also many of the reasons why they were lynched, mannnnn wait to you see this list, it just made me upset reading over it, but have a look a couple for yourself:
- acting suspiciously
- arguing with a white man
- incest
- robbery
- killing live stock
- injuring live stock
- living with a white woman
- being obnoxious
- trying to vote
- trying to colonize blacks
- using obscene language
Another key issue that was brought up was the issue of rape, and the white man proclaiming that he was protecting the virtuous white womanhood by lynching black men.
They felt that no white woman would willingly want to be with a black man therefore it must be some type of force being used to make her lay with a black man. When infact it was quite the contrary;
White women pursued black men. While in the course of my reading for class I came upon an example, it was about this black field hand who constantly kept trying to dodge the advances of his white boss' daughter but she didn't give up. He even quit his job to get away from her, well, finally when he gave in and they were caught together the white woman exclaimed rape, and he was hung!!
We also discussed the tension felt between black and white women on the basis of sexuality and their male counterparts. Many black women today see white women as the "loose"ones and down to try anything sexually, but in reality that is how majority of society paints the picture of the black woman and at times I think she is a bit resentful of that. I know many black women who get offended when they see a black men with a white woman because they feel how could he betray his black woman like that "His mama was a black woman" is something I hear all the time or "they" are taking all the good ones. Me personally, I really could care less about someone choosing to date outside of their race, because at the end of the day that is NOT my business, however because of the tension filled relationship between black and white people it is easily understood why these feelings do still exist!
Until next time..
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