“Defenseless Because of Color”
by
Latoya Brooks
Lynching is an act carried out by a mob of people seeking instant, justice by their own hands, based on little or no evidence. It is a situation where people—often times, black people—weremurdered by hanging and mutilating based on accusations by their accuser. People were lynched for petty offenses such as stealing a cow, arguing with a white person, or described as in sheer high spirits. (Lynching Statistics) Blacks were constantly fearful with a low self-image because of frequent retaliation from whites.
Lynching was a tradition in the South that was carried out to protect the social order between blacks and whites, by invoking fear. Blacks during the painful slavery and Jim Crow era have experienced fear, resentment, and retaliation in the form of the civil rights movement.
White people used their color as a demonstration of power over blacks, to install fear among the people. The brutal act of being forcefully removed from their home, by an angry mob hurling insults, about a crime, that often times, were untrue. This untold story was a harsh reality, in the form a 14-year old boy, Emmett Till. In his story, he was alleged to have whistled at a white woman, which led to the mutilation and hanging of his body. The real purpose of these savage demonstrations is to teach the Negro in the South, no matter what a white man does to them, they must not resist. (African Americans Lynching) Blacks remained fearful that if they did resist or get out of line
with white’s, their lives, and the life of loved one’s could be gravely endangered. Living in fear does not allow people to reach their fullest potential because their abilities and goals are restricted.
Even the laws which should have protected the Blacks were not devised to help them at all. Instead, laws like Jim Crow were implemented to continue the separation of the people, rather than joining them together. Blacks were alienated and made to feel inferior to whites based on skin color. Businesses and public places would have signs that read Whites only, or Coloreds Allowed, to signal people where they could or could not go. There has been no scientific information that could be shown to illustrate the significance of skin color between the races, to show any difference among the two.
Blacks had become fed up with their current state of living, and began to stand up for their rights, leading to the Civil Rights Movement. They were tired of living in fear, or having their families ripped apart. The younger generation on the 1960s, became the founding Fathers of Civil Rights, like Martin Luther King Jr. Marches and rallies were taken place all over the South, showing whites that change needs to begin, and now. Blacks formed alliances with each other to form one powerful voice, which showed the government and the world, the need for change.
Lynching was a tradition in the South that was carried out to protect the social order between blacks and whites, by invoking fear. Blacks during the painful slavery and Jim Crow era have experienced fear, resentment, and retaliation in the form of the civil rights movement.
White people used their color as a demonstration of power over blacks, to install fear among the people. The brutal act of being forcefully removed from their home, by an angry mob hurling insults, about a crime, that often times, were untrue. This untold story was a harsh reality, in the form a 14-year old boy, Emmett Till. In his story, he was alleged to have whistled at a white woman, which led to the mutilation and hanging of his body. The real purpose of these savage demonstrations is to teach the Negro in the South, no matter what a white man does to them, they must not resist. (African Americans Lynching) Blacks remained fearful that if they did resist or get out of line
with white’s, their lives, and the life of loved one’s could be gravely endangered. Living in fear does not allow people to reach their fullest potential because their abilities and goals are restricted.
Even the laws which should have protected the Blacks were not devised to help them at all. Instead, laws like Jim Crow were implemented to continue the separation of the people, rather than joining them together. Blacks were alienated and made to feel inferior to whites based on skin color. Businesses and public places would have signs that read Whites only, or Coloreds Allowed, to signal people where they could or could not go. There has been no scientific information that could be shown to illustrate the significance of skin color between the races, to show any difference among the two.
Blacks had become fed up with their current state of living, and began to stand up for their rights, leading to the Civil Rights Movement. They were tired of living in fear, or having their families ripped apart. The younger generation on the 1960s, became the founding Fathers of Civil Rights, like Martin Luther King Jr. Marches and rallies were taken place all over the South, showing whites that change needs to begin, and now. Blacks formed alliances with each other to form one powerful voice, which showed the government and the world, the need for change.
