American Terrorism… Lynching Postcards
Terrorism is defined as “the use of violence and intimidation in the pursuit of political aims.” Western media likes to paint terrorists with a brown face, but one of the most horrific campaigns of terror happened in the past century on American soil – the estimated 3,436 lynchings of black American men and women between 1882 and 1950, intended to control and intimidate the recently freed black population. There is nothing more disturbing than being confronted with visual evidence of humanity’s dark heart, especially when it is evidence of a widespread, mainstream hatred for and violence towards one another. Hatred that stems from fear, and is driven by religion and a belief that murder is morality made distorted flesh; violence that aims to cow and suppress any aspirations a community might have for equality and a brighter future.
When I came across this collection of American postcards from James Allen and John Littlefield, published in a book entitled Without Sanctuary, I saw how important it is to look at these images, today more than ever. These postcards were made to commemorate events that made many American white people feel proud – of their race, of their superiority, of their civilization and their intelligence. They took photos of their disgusting, cowardly accomplishments and memorialized them for future generations, to be found and collected and remembered by their descendents. On the backs, they wrote to friends and family in sociopathic excitement about the mob the participated in. These postcards capture the mobs witnessing with glee the murder of young men and women, whose most serious crime was the color of their skin. The corpses hanging and charred in these postcards lived in a world that counted down the days until their murder from the second they drew air into their infant lungs. This history is potent, stomach-churning and of essential importance to the America of today, and to the world of today. And the most striking thing about these photographs is that they don’t erase the perpetrators like many histories and memorials do today, preferring to focus on who was victimized rather than on those who proudly – and with government backing – tortured, raped and murdered people. The murderers in these photos stand proud, grown men looking at the camera with the smiling conviction that the teenage boy they just killed, one against a hundred, was deserving of their hatred, fear and frustration. No grand jury needed; the law was in the hands of the murderers.
History is not linear; history is happening all around us, all the time. These photos are context, they are reality, they are pictures of American terrorism. Read James Allen’s commentary below and be aware that these photos are sickening, and all too real.
Africans in America mounted resistance to white people lynchings in numerous ways. Intellectuals and journalists encouraged public education, actively protesting and lobbying against lynch mob violence and government complicity in that violence. The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), as well as numerous other organizations, organized support from white and black Americans alike and conducted a national campaign to get a federal anti-lynching law passed. African American women’s clubs raised funds to support the work of public campaigns, including anti-lynching plays. Their petition drives, letter campaigns, meetings and demonstrations helped to highlight the issues and combat lynching.[4] In the Great Migration, extending in two waves from 1910 to 1970, 6.5 million African Americans left the South, primarily for destinations in northern and mid-western cities, both to gain better jobs and education and to escape the high rate of violence.
From 1882 to 1968, “…nearly 200 anti-lynching bills were introduced in Congress, and three passed the House. Seven presidents between 1890 and 1952 petitioned Congress to pass a federal law.”[5] In 1920 theRepublican Party promised at its national convention to support passage of such a law. In 1921 Leonidas C. Dyer from Saint Louissponsored an anti-lynching bill; it was passed in January 1922 in the United States House of Representatives, but a Senate filibuster by the Southern white Democratic block defeated it in December 1922. With the NAACP, Representative Dyer spoke across the country in support of his bill in 1923 and tried to gain passage that year and the next, but was defeated by the Southern Democratic block.
DO NOT BE SCARED TO REBLOG THIS. WHETHER YOU OR YOUR FOLLOWERS WANT TO SEE THIS OR NOT, IT NEEDS TO BE SEEN.
Oh my fucking god. This was a fucking hundred years ago. These were your grandparents parents.
POSTCARDS?!?
White people were the first terrorist…
Never forget.
White people own your history
Reblogging twice because I wish somebody would tell me something.
Mind you, they have not changed and I will keep these photos to teach my younger brother about the tragedies commited, but remember that these terrorists still exist and are teaching their kids to be terrorists, they.have.not.changed.
times haven’t changed. please don’t fall into that train of thought people. Whether its conscious or subconscious white terrorism is still being taught today.
Ok there is a difference between white people and the ones who were responsible for this. I am white but I just immigrated to America, this is not my history. So don’t generalize white people please.
^ shut the fuck up!
@overlord-swift sweetheart, you really wanna gloss over the fact that no white European descendant is innocent in the atrocities inflicted upon black people worldwide? Ignorance DOES NOT equal innocence.
This bitch is more offended with the generalizing of white people than with the recent lynching of black people.. tf
Terrible that this happened to them. Absolutely disgusting & if any of you don’t like what I post then unfollow me. The truth must be known.
this makes me furious and absolutely DISGUSTED
white folk really think they can do this shit and they gone be welcomed into heaven. I wished they treated them the way they did the Nazis who’ve committed crimes against humanity and they ain’t care how old they were they were still being charged for their crimes.
I am in tears.
I wish a m/f would.. I am ready. Clips fully loaded..
Tears. And why is that white immigrant commenting on this?!
Have no idea!! She should’ve minded her own business for sure!! Got my blood boiling.
This shit😡🤬
“That was so long ago”
“Why do you talk about race so much?”
“That was my ancestors, not me. Why do you blame me for this?”
“🗣🎵Southern Trees …. barren straight fruit , blood on the leaves , blood at the root ….. black bodies swinging the southern breeze …..🎵 😞🌹🌹🌹🌹 (To The Ancestors , Past & Present - I never forget the injustice & pain , heartbreak what they done - we will continue the battle!✊🏽
This here.
Can you imagine a crowd of white people happily and sadistically planning your death as you look around you?
Not only are they gonna hang you but they are also gonna oil you up and set you on fire, while you are being hunged.
This is why I cant stand race play and seeing black men being fetishize by white people. Cuz it is that serious. Props for white people’s entertainment. And thrown away when done.
