As I skim the internet and history books for information on the 1940’s discrimination between blacks and whites. Many images arise that are grotesque in nature with bodies hanging from trees, badly beaten and burned. In the back ground of these images you can see white faces floating with laughter and wide eyes staring at their tortured victims. These people truly enjoyed the murdering of their African American neighbors. Most of these lynchings took place in poor southern towns and as a result “the lynching became a form of cheap entertainment” (Rohrer, 11/01/2016). Many people have speculated different reasons for these brutal murders but my one argument is fear. Killing served as a public warning for African Americans to stay in their “place” and not revolt against their white counter parts. There was no interference from “law enforcement” or local sheriffs because they usually took a part in this violence. In Laura Wexler’s Fire in a Canebrake,
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Laura’s book gives a hint of credit to the Hester brothers and family however, she explained “I believe that we’ll never know who fired the shots in the clearing of the Moore’s Ford Bridge on July 25th, 1946” (Wexler p. 516.) Of course this is not a satisfying ending to a tragic story such as this one and in any case we would all want the bad guy caught. I yet believe that what killed these men and women is not a who but a what. The fear of the unknown and the need for power is what killed these four individual on that day. The aftershock of the lynching is what white people wanted, a sense of power over another human. They wanted to strike fear into the eyes of African-Americans and to discourage other whites from helping them. Blacks were discouraged to vote in elections and to move forward from their slavery days. Lynching only gave one thing to the nation and that is the underlying fear of their fellow
Laura’s book gives a hint of credit to the Hester brothers and family however, she explained “I believe that we’ll never know who fired the shots in the clearing of the Moore’s Ford Bridge on July 25th, 1946” (Wexler p. 516.) Of course this is not a satisfying ending to a tragic story such as this one and in any case we would all want the bad guy caught. I yet believe that what killed these men and women is not a who but a what. The fear of the unknown and the need for power is what killed these four individual on that day. The aftershock of the lynching is what white people wanted, a sense of power over another human. They wanted to strike fear into the eyes of African-Americans and to discourage other whites from helping them. Blacks were discouraged to vote in elections and to move forward from their slavery days. Lynching only gave one thing to the nation and that is the underlying fear of their fellow