violent death at the hands of Southern mobs have not been accused of this crime, it is evident that, instead of being the "usual" crime, rape is the most unusual of all the crimes for which negroes are shot, hanged and burned” (Terrell 855)
It is important to establish the definition of lynching and the role it played in the anti-lynching campaign. Surprisingly, finding the definition was the key to getting a law passed and was surround with arguments and debates. It caused a lot of problems as how was one supposed to label a black death as either a murder or a lynching. Was there even a difference? The earliest definition of lynching, according to Robyn Wiegman, came “In fact, before 1840, writers James E. Cutler in his study of the history of lynching in the united states” (Wiegman 454). Cutler goes on to say “the verb lynch was occasionally used to include capital punishment, but…’to lynch’ had not then undergone a change in meaning and …show more content…
She wanted to have a lynch free year. In order for this to happen, a single definition would have to be establish. During the course of a year, Ames shut down numerous proposed lynching definition all because of her desire to have her goal meet. Finally, “On May 9, 1940-Ames issued a press release based on Tuskegee data announcing that for the first time in the history of the modern South, a year had passed without a single lynching. At the end of June, Tuskegee issued its semi-annual report agreeing with Ames that no lynchings had occurred in the previous year” (Waldrep 94). The NAACP was not pleased with Ames report. They was worried that Ames report would make it seem like the problem of lynching didn’t exist anymore. However, “The controversy allowed the NAACP to position itself as being tougher on white racism than Tuskegee or Ames were, and some African Americans concluded that the NAACP's rivals had sold out”(Waldrep 95) Soon the disagreeing groups was at it
It is important to establish the definition of lynching and the role it played in the anti-lynching campaign. Surprisingly, finding the definition was the key to getting a law passed and was surround with arguments and debates. It caused a lot of problems as how was one supposed to label a black death as either a murder or a lynching. Was there even a difference? The earliest definition of lynching, according to Robyn Wiegman, came “In fact, before 1840, writers James E. Cutler in his study of the history of lynching in the united states” (Wiegman 454). Cutler goes on to say “the verb lynch was occasionally used to include capital punishment, but…’to lynch’ had not then undergone a change in meaning and …show more content…
She wanted to have a lynch free year. In order for this to happen, a single definition would have to be establish. During the course of a year, Ames shut down numerous proposed lynching definition all because of her desire to have her goal meet. Finally, “On May 9, 1940-Ames issued a press release based on Tuskegee data announcing that for the first time in the history of the modern South, a year had passed without a single lynching. At the end of June, Tuskegee issued its semi-annual report agreeing with Ames that no lynchings had occurred in the previous year” (Waldrep 94). The NAACP was not pleased with Ames report. They was worried that Ames report would make it seem like the problem of lynching didn’t exist anymore. However, “The controversy allowed the NAACP to position itself as being tougher on white racism than Tuskegee or Ames were, and some African Americans concluded that the NAACP's rivals had sold out”(Waldrep 95) Soon the disagreeing groups was at it