Some 3,446 African Americans were lynched between 1882 and 1933 by mobs made up of people looking very much like those you see staring at you right now. Many other lynchings occurred but were never recorded. These were sometimes accompanied by sadistic tortures.
If you had not already been told that a black man was still hanging lifeless at the end of a rope and if I had not cropped the horrific image out of the picture, it would be perfectly reasonable to assume that nothing as monstrous as a public execution had taken place. The crowd could just as well be standing in front of a stage listening to a speech by a politician seeking reelection. Look at their faces and see if you can find even a trace of guilt or remorse. Nope, there is nothing there; just some men standing around with their hands in their pockets staring into the camera.
In all likelihood, most of these people will be at church on Sunday where the events of this day will have been forgotten. They will say their prayers, profess their faith and never give a thought to the enormity of their sin or the gross hypocrisy of what they are doing.
When the Civil Rights Movement came along, the lynch mobs made a comeback. African Americans marched for their rights and endured threatening crowds of racists who showered them with bricks, drenched them with fire hoses and attacked them with dogs. But they persevered and the huge mobs once more faded into history.
That is not to say that African Americans are not the targets of violence today, they are.
Now, with the election of Barack Obama, the horrors of the past are coming back. The culprits are ultra-conservative organizations backed by corporate wealth and a compliant news media. They have been so successful in creating a purpose built organization in the Tea Party that it is common place to see rallies all over the country attended by angry mobs whose sole goal is to demonize President Obama.
The participants carry signs instead of rope but they are just as full of hate as the lynch mobs of old.
This article charts the organizations and people who make up the lynch mob, pointing out the racism and giving examples along the way. Of course lynching is used as a metaphor; no one is actually trying to physically lynch the President. Thought was given about the reaction of African Americans to the use of the word "lynching". I trust that no offence will be taken none is intended. Lynching is simply the only word that metaphorically describes what right wing Americans are doing to President Obama.
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