Lynching and Lynch Mobs Martin, Parry, Klingelhoffer

Give a brief history of lynchings in America and the origins of the lynch mob. Lynching, or publicly humiliating and hanging African Americans, was a popular form of punishment in American’s Southern states from 1882 and 1930. Mob violence instilled fear and racial supremacy over African Americans. Reasons for lynching included rape, stealing, poisoning water well, trying to vote and even acting suspiciously.

How did lynching come to represent white hatred of blacks How did lynching come to represent white hatred of blacks? Why were so many white people supportive of them? Lynching come to represent white hatred because of the disproportionate numbers of black victims. From 1882-1930 462 African Americans were killed in Mississippi, 423 were killed in Georgia, and 262 in Alabama. 2,500 lynch victims were African-American while only 300 lynch victims were white. Many white people supported lynch mobs in the Southern states because of Mob Mentality or going along with a group because “everyone is doing it.”

Explain the recent re-emergence of symbols of lynching (the Jena Six, etc.). What effect has it had on racial tensions in America? 3 bullets of relevant and thoughtful information in grammatically correct sentences

Connection to To Kill a Mockingbird Lynching and Lynch Mobs relate to To Kill a Mockingbird because their even through Tom Robinson wasn’t lynched, he was killed because of racial tension and discrimination. Also, the chapter where Atticus is protecting Tom from outside of the jail shows Mob Mentality. This topic also helps us understand what the era was like for African-Americans and how difficult and scary everyday life was for them when living in the Southern states.

Works Cited Braziel, Evans. “History of Lynching in the United States”. Urbana and Chicago: University of Illinois Press. 1992. Online. “The Case of Louisiana’s ‘Jena Six’”. NPR. 5 August 2008. Online.