Lynching

Did i tell you that my sis wanted my study table so i had to downgrade to a smaller study table? Well, then i had to clean up my new table and while i was tidying my table, i came across an assignment i did in secondary school 2 years ago.

An inflammatory cartoon that was used as evidence in the civil trial resulting from Michael Donald's murder.

Ever heard of the Poem - Strange Fruit?

Ever wondered in other parts of the world, how far has racism got into?

Ever imagined how many people had been killed due to racism?

Strange Fruit : A Poem
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 poplar 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 the 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 crop.

"Strange Fruit" is a song performed most famously later on by Billie Holiday. It condemned American racism, particularly the lynching of African Americans that had occurred chiefly in the South but also in all regions of the United States. Here's another incident that was credited to racism.

The Death of Emmett Till

Words and Music by Bob Dylan1963, 1968 Warner Bros.

Inc Renewed 1991 Special Rider Music

Twas down in Mississippi no so long ago,

When a young boy from Chicago town stepped through a Southern door.

This boy's dreadful tragedy I can still remember well,

The color of his skin was black and his name was Emmett Till.

Some men they dragged him to a barn and there they beat him up.

They said they had a reason, but I can't remember what.

They tortured him and did some evil things too evil to repeat.

There was screaming sounds inside the barn, there was laughing sounds out on the street.

Then they rolled his body down a gulf amidst a bloody red rain

And they threw him in the waters wide to cease his screaming pain.

The reason that they killed him there, and I'm sure it ain't no lie,

Was just for the fun of killin' him and to watch him slowly die.

And then to stop the United States of yelling for a trial,

Two brothers they confessed that they had killed poor Emmett Till.

But on the jury there were men who helped the brothers commit this awful crime,

And so this trial was a mockery, but nobody seemed to mind.

I saw the morning papers but I could not bear to see

The smiling brothers walkin' down the courthouse stairs.

For the jury found them innocent and the brothers they went free,

While Emmett'sbody floats the foam of a Jim Crow southern sea.

If you can't speak out against this kind of thing, a crime that's so unjust,

Your eyes are filled with dead men's dirt, your mind is filled with dust.

Your arms and legs they must be in shackles and chains,

and your blood it must refuse to flow,

For you let this human race fall down so God-awful low!

This song is just a reminder to remind your fellow man

That this kind of thing still lives today in that ghost-robed Ku Klux Klan.

But if all of us folks that thinks alike, if we gave all we could give,

We could make this great land of ours a greater place to live.

And this isn't a poem invented anyhow, the words are mere descriptions of the sufferings of this poor little boy. The rosewood massacre see the hometowns and habitats of the blacks being burned down and the minority who survived were left with no choice than to leave their hometown and seek refuge in Florida. When they did so, the whites returned and burned their homes down without a trace. With racism, Not only were most Africans accused and killed/lynched, the white who stood by them lost their lives as well. As a result, most of the good-natured whites and innocent blacks could only stand by and watch, they didn't dare to stand up for justice because then, they themselves would be lynched. There were so many incidents, Emmet Till, Tulsa Burning and others. I feel that these actions are so intimidating, so intriguing and it still continues to horrify me til now. And the fact that the kkk still exists frightens me, why has rasicm been raised to such a level that so many lives have been sacrificed and even now as a minor, it still exists ?



Take a look at some of the causes of their deaths (285 cases) :


Unknown cause 92
No cause 10
Race prejudice 49
Miscegenation 7
Informing 12
Making threats 11
Keeping saloon 3
Practicing fraud 5
Practicing voodism 2
Bad reputation 8
Unpopularity 3
Mistaken identity 5
Using improper language 3
Violation of contract 1
Writing insulting letter 2
Eloping 2
Poisoning horse 1
Poisoning well 2
By white caps 9
Vigilantes 14
Indians 1
Moon shining 1
Refusing evidence 2
Political causes 5
Disputing 1
Disobeying quarantine regulations 2
Slapping a child 1
Turning state's evidence 3
Protecting a Negro 1
To prevent giving evidence 1
Knowledge of larceny 1
Writing letter to white woman 1
Asking white woman to marry 1
Jilting girl 1
Having smallpox 1
Concealing criminal 2
Threatening political exposure 1
Self defense 6
Cruelty 1
Insulting language to woman 5
Quarreling with white man 2
Colonizing Negroes 1
Throwing stones 1
Quarreling 1
Gambling 1



In short, these reflect how selfish human beings can get - and it's scary, it's extremely unsettling. I truuly hope for peace in the whole world - be it school peace; career peace, or just peace and equity among the different races.
P/s. All information were taken from research websites and all views are based on my personal opinions :D

Credits to StrangeFruit & martinfrost for the info.