March 26, 2012

African American History

Unit
Post Civil War America
Lesson
Lynching
Essential Question
Why did racist Americans use lynching as a scare tactic?
Agenda
I. Do Now!
II. Strange Fruit Billy Holiday
III. Lynching
I. Do Now!
Definition of a hate crime: A crime motivated by racial, sexual, or other prejudice,
typically one involving violence.
Do you believe that certain crimes are hate crimes and should be punished more
harshly? Should they be treated differently from crimes motivated by other emotions, like greed? Why or
why not?
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II. Strange Fruit Billy Holiday
Listen to the song Strange Fruit. Read the lyrics. What is this song about? What social
problems is the singer addressing?
Southern trees bear strange fruit
Blood on the leaves and blood at the root
Black bodies swinging in the southern breeze
Strange fruit hanging from the popular trees
Pastoral scene of the gallant south
The bulging eyes and the twisted mouth
Scent of magnolias, sweet and fresh
Then the sudden smell of burning flesh
Here is fruit for the crows to pluck
For the rain to gather, for the wind to suck
For the sun to rot, for the trees to drop
Here is a strange and bitter cry

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III. Lynching
His name was Jesse Washington, a 17-year-old black youth who was born in rural Texas in
1897. He worked on a farm outside Waco which belonged to George and Lucy Fryer. In
May, 1916, Washington was convicted in City Court of murdering Lucy Fryer. During the

proceedings, he apologized and confessed to the crime. At the end of the trial, Washington
was sentenced to death by hanging. Residents, however, were already in an uproar over
the crime. A black man who attacked a white woman in any way whatsoever during that
era in the South evoked little sympathy from the public. Within five minutes of the
sentencing, dozens of court spectators jumped the railing, fought with officials and seized
the terrified defendant. He was immediately set upon by a vicious gang using clubs,
shovels and bricks. He was stripped naked and dragged kicking and screaming to the lawn
directly in front of City Hall. Townspeople had already built a giant bonfire underneath a
large tree. The crowd was later estimated to be as large as 15,000 people. Included in the
cheering multitude was the Police Chief and the Mayor of Waco. Other police officers also
stood by during the sickening ordeal which played out in the symbolic shadow of City Hall
(Dallas Morning News, June 2, 1998). Washington was immersed in coal oil, hoisted up
onto the tree and slowly lowered into the fire. Some of the spectators cut off fingers and
toes from the corpse as souvenirs. His remains were dumped into a burlap bag and hung
from a pole while many in the crowd cheered.
The Waco lynching focused national attention, once again, in 1916 on the problem of
lynching: a systemic, persistent and horrifying practice that was rampant throughout the
South for decades. These killings were often committed with the full knowledge, and
sometimes with the active assistance, of law enforcement people. Lynchings were also
treated as entertainment events and like the Waco incident, often attended by thousands
of onlookers. Most took place in the Deep South but lynchings were common and recorded
in over 26 states, including Illinois and North Dakota (Cleveland Gazette, January 8, 1898,
p. 2). The problem became so widespread that it was addressed by several Presidents and
eventually the Supreme Court. However, rather than condemn lynch law, the Supreme
Court seemed to effect rulings that reaffirmed a segregated America. Court decisions
during this era perpetuated the atmosphere of violence, fostered the notion of white
supremacy and cultivated mistrust of Washington. But the origins of lynching do not rest in
federal court, nor can it be blamed, as Southern newspapers often reported, on
government's failure to apply justice.
Lynching arose from the ashes of a ruthless and costly war that pitted brother against
brother and father against son. The Civil War left a trail of blood and bitterness that
twisted its way through successive generations and set the stage for a frenzy of so called
mob justice that killed thousands of men, women and children, most of them black. And
between the years 1880 and 1905, a period of twenty five years, not one person was ever
convicted of any crime associated with these killings. Lynchings are, in effect, the most
extensive series of unsolved murders in American history.
Questions:
What might motivate a mob to lynch someone?
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What is the relationship of lynching to scapegoating?
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Why do you think the lynching of African-American men began primarily after the end of
Reconstruction, when federal troops were withdrawn from the South?
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When, if ever, might a lynching be justified?
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