This is a postcard of a Duluth, Minnesota lynching in 1920. I'm not sure who decided this would be a good picture for a post card, or why for that matter.
The brutality of this image is unbearable. I cannot even grasp the concept that the whites at this time could stand and watch these black men being hung for a crime that they didn't even commit. From the presentation about lynching that was done in class, I was so surprised to hear that the white men would often put blame on the blacks for a wrong that they committed and in turn, the black man would be hung in place of the white man. The biggest question that comes to my mind when reading and seeing pictures about lynching is, how can anyone think that this is okay, if it is not enough to enslave a man, beat him almost to death, then having him killed for a crime he did not commit is? The harsh reality of this time period and the act of lynching is terrible. Over this entire semester we have been reading about the dreadful lives of slaves like Fredrick Douglass, and Harriet Jacobs but none ended with an outcome such as this. Lynching is by far the most brutal result of the inequality of this era.
Wow. This is a very shocking and powerful image. So much can be said about this. For one, I agree it is odd that people would consider using this for a postcard. Just Awful. Secondly, how is it that these people can bare to be so close to a lynched man? Today in America people wouldn't even stand 10 feet away from such a crime. It would certainly traumatize us. From the picture it looks as if it was done in the street of the city, amidst everyone. I guess the whites were trying to further humiliate the blacks and prove their superiority over them. In addition, many of them do not seem even a bit disturbed by their horrid action, and there is even a man smiling in the image. This further shows the status of the black man among society, as not yet a valid citizen or human. Booker T. Washington probably wouldn't have seen this coming, after all the progress he has witnessed around himself. But I'm sure that to Douglass or Jacobs it would have been expected of the whites to do this to them.
ReplyDeleteThis picture shows the harsh reality of lynchings taking place in the early 1900's in the United States. It was painful and grieve stricken time for African Americans. They were either victims of this horrible crime that was very painful or they had to endure the pain of seeing a family member or friend be a victim to it. The period of lynchings instilled a great deal of fear into the African American community. I have to agree with Alessandra on what she said about Washington. After all the improvements made during his time alive he would of been baffled by the events of lynchings.
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