CR #3 — Jim Crow
This week the class covered the era pre-Jim Crow in America. Some historical scholars refer to it as the “nadir.” Nadir means a lowest point of fortune in a person or an organization. The term nadir is then referring to a low point in our country. This era was from the end of the Civil War to the beginning of Jim Crow. Our class focused on the lynchings, and black resistance to their unfair treatment during this era. It is important to note that not all lynchings were of black people, as white people were lynched as well. Usually those lynched were those who committed heinous crimes. Lynching was a horrible practice committed by angry mobs.
Today we understand a lynchings very nature was to be as violent and fear inducing as possible. Though motives of lynching include showing a populaces anger and exhibiting dominance or control, it is not necessarily important to be as violent as possible. It is not clear what actually constitutes a lynching. Something as commonly thought of as an angry mob or posse rounding up someone and hanging them from a tree could be considered a lynching. Dragging someone from behind a horse or vehicle could be included as well. Pretty much any form of public execution, performed by citizens, extra or post judicially, could be documented as a lynching. A mob only needs to consist of 3 people for it to be considered a mob.
We started with a graphic photograph on a postcard of Jesse Washington having been lynched. His charred corpse hung from a tree. He had been stabbed, beaten, and then burned at the base of the tree. No person should die this way, and mob style lynchings are admonished today. However, lynching was common during the time Jessie Washington was lynched and it should be noted the people who participated thought they were just in their actions. This is evident in the fact that the picture of his hanging corpse and unapologetic onlookers was proudly printed upon a post card for distribution. It’s reported that his teeth and fingers were kept as souvenirs and even individual links of the chains that bound him were sold off as well. Today, we can look back on the hypocrisy of this heinous act being some sort of retribution for Washington’s similarly heinous act.
Washington had confessed and been found guilty in court of law for the rape and bludgeoning to death of Lucy Fryer, the wife of his employer, with a hammer. This was during a time of all white juries and it was mentioned that other black men had been lynched for lesser crimes. Sometimes it had been reported that victims had not even committed a crime. It is not clear if the lynching was so violent because of Washington’s skin color, though it is suggested that may be the case. It’s not hard to imagine a forced confession, and an unsympathetic jury convicting a would-be innocent man. But I can find no evidence that this was the case.
Over time most victims of lynchings, guilty and innocent, were black. Lynchings were carried out for over a hundred years throughout the country. It is likely they had been carried out many years prior than when they would be known as “lynching,” after “lynch laws”, but they would have been known as something else. And again, lynching took place all over America though they were much more common in the Southern United States. Other restrictions to black Americans hindered their ability to vote, and segregation played a large part in attempting to keep the then status quo of whites and colored people. Because of the often-violent anti-black sentiment in the South, many black Americans decided to migrate north and west. Driving factors were economic as well as political. In some instances, blacks just wanted what whites were afforded; the opportunity to make something of themselves and be independent.
During the latter half of the era of the nadir and the beginning of the Jim Crow era, many were protesting their treatment. There were boycotts as well as protests, and this is before the civil rights era. Blacks fought for the right to vote, equality and the opportunity to receive an education. Blacks as well as others were taken advantage of because they were either unable to read or unable to comprehend what was read. Over half of the black population was illiterate as opposed to 13 percent of foreign-born peoples, and 11 percent of whites. Education can be used as a weapon for those who have it and denying people an education is an effective method of keeping those people obedient and docile. Lives of black Americans was intentionally made difficult and it was long struggle for their fight for equality. They would continue fighting through the Jim Crow era and begin what is now known as the Civil Rights era.
