#lynching in america

[ausetkmt]

Lynching victim Rubin Stacy’s story being told by his family in film screening at NSU

Anne Naves knew something bad had happened to her uncle when her male relatives came home from fishing, each wearing a pall of silence. Dad wasn’t cracking jokes like usual. Grandfather looked grave. And her uncle, Rubin Stacy, hadn’t come back. The next day, someone from the funeral home said a body had been dropped off.

Naves, 8 years old at the time, only discovered the full gruesome truth about her uncle years later. On July 19, 1935, acting on an unproven accusation from a white woman, a masked lynch mob strung up Stacy under a Fort Lauderdale tree, hanged him and shot him 17 times as spectators gawked and children laughed.

The brutality and silence of Stacy’s lynching is revisited in the new documentary, “Rubin,” which will screen on Tuesday, Oct. 3, at Nova Southeastern University. In the hourlong film, the farmhand’s death is recounted through the eyes of his surviving descendants, but mainly through Naves, who was the last living eyewitness to the trauma — and to the secrecy — that followed.

The film, the first to be made by relatives of Stacy’s family, also chronicles the history of lynchings in America, used as a tool of punishment and to foster silence.

“I think (my family) knew that, without telling us (kids) what really happened, they would save us a lot of trauma,” Naves says in the documentary. “The neighbors and our church members respected our silence, too, because they knew that if it could happen to our family, it could happen to theirs.”

For “Rubin” director Tenille Brown, who is a cousin of Rubin Stacy, the film has in recent weeks also morphed into something else: a posthumous tribute to Naves. After filming her interviews for the documentary, she died on Sept. 18 at age 96, leaving behind a strong legacy: She was a Broward County educator for 25 years, teaching at Pines Middle and other schools.

“The biggest piece of the film was Anne,” Brown says in an interview with the South Florida Sun Sentinel. “Without her, there’s no story. She’s the driving force. She was ready to talk. She told me to record her. She really pushed me when I didn’t feel confident and said, ‘Record me anyway. Just go.’ ”

The rest of America witnessed the cruelty of Stacy’s lynching long before Naves did. A series of photos immortalize the moment when a white crowd gathered around Stacy’s body hanging from a tree. These images ran in newspapers nationwide, were published by the NAACP, Life magazine and National Geographic, and are now archived in the Library of Congress.

It was a tale of Jim Crow-era racism that Fort Lauderdale would’ve rather forgotten — the brother of a corrupt Broward County sheriff participated in the lynching — but city officials have made strides in recent years to acknowledge the tragedy by placing memorial markers around Fort Lauderdale. One is on Davie Boulevard and Southwest 31st Avenue, also known as Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue, near where Stacy took his last breath. There’s another on the 800 block of Northwest Second Street, where he lived, and a third at Woodlawn Cemetery, his final resting place. In February 2022, a section of Davie Boulevard was renamed Rubin Stacy Memorial Boulevard.

“I’m glad they acknowledged it,” says Brown, of Pompano Beach. “These stories make some people in the state uncomfortable, but if they are based on fact, we need to tell the truth. You can’t turn your head. These are things you can’t ignore.”

For Brown, it was these memorials — and Naves’ willingness to break her silence — that motivated her to reconstruct Stacy’s story. To do so, she also interviewed Ken Cutler, Parkland commissioner and historian, and Tameka Bradley Hobbs, library regional manager of Fort Lauderdale’s African American Research Library and Cultural Center.

“My family didn’t want to talk about it out of fear for years,” Brown says. “There was shame. There’s an element of hurt, and you can hear that emotion in Anne’s voice. Now it feels freeing. This is a story that was suppressed for years and by sharing it, this is how we overcome.”

Michael Anderson, a producer for “Rubin,” says the film also tackles what too many school textbooks don’t stress enough: the history of Black lynchings.

“For Black youth to know their stories, they have to know the history of lynchings,” Anderson says. “They still don’t know how lynchings were used as a weapon to keep a community quiet. That’s exactly what it did to Rubin Stacy’s family.”

IF YOU GO

WHAT: “Rubin”

WHEN: 7 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 3

WHERE: NSU’s Rose & Alfred Miniaci Performing Arts Center, 3100 Ray Ferrero Jr. Blvd., Davie

COST: Free, but tickets must be presented for entry

INFORMATION: 954-462-0222; MiniaciPAC.com

[whitesinhistory]

On July 7, 1893, a crowd of over 5,000 white people lynched a Black man named Seay J. Miller in Bardwell, Kentucky, for allegedly killing two young white girls, despite ample evidence of his innocence.  Many Black people were lynched across the South under accusation of murder. During this era of racial terror, mere suggestions of Black-on-white violence could provoke mob violence and lynching before the judicial system could or would act. The deep racial hostility permeating Southern society often served to focus suspicion on Black communities after a crime was discovered, whether or not there was evidence to support the suspicion, and accusations lodged against Black people were rarely subject to serious scrutiny. Here, suspicion immediately fell on Mr. Miller and led to his death despite available evidence pointing to a different culprit.   Statements from Mr. Miller’s wife and from law enforcement witnesses indicated that Mr. Miller was not even in Kentucky on the date the girls were killed, and multiple eyewitnesses identified the girls’ killer as a white man. Even the girls’ father was unconvinced of Mr. Miller’s guilt. Only one person implicated Mr. Miller, but he originally told police that the person he saw was a white man—as did other witnesses. The witness who implicated Mr. Miller changed his statement only after the county sheriff threatened to charge him as an accomplice if he did not do so. This same sheriff handed Mr. Miller over to a crowd of thousands of white citizens to be lynched. Though charged with protecting the people in their custody, law enforcement almost never used their authority to resist white crowds intent on killing Black people and were instead often complicit in lynchings. In a system where law enforcement did little to protect Black communities, white crowds acted as judge, jury, and executioner.  The mob was determined to ensure Mr. Miller’s death was brutal. Reasoning that immediate lynching by rope would be “too humane,” the white mob fastened a chain weighing over 100 pounds around Mr. Miller’s neck and forced him to walk through town until he fainted from exhaustion.  “I am standing here an innocent man among excited men who do not propose to let the law take its course. I have committed no crime to be deprived of my liberty or life. I am not guilty,” Mr. Miller reportedly said as he was led to his death. “Burning and torture here last but a little while, but if I die with a lie on my soul, I shall be tortured forever. I am innocent.” These were his last recorded words.

Around 3 pm, the heavily armed mob hanged Mr. Miller from a telephone pole, shot hundreds of bullets into his body, then left his corpse hanging from the pole for hours. Afterward, white people cut off his fingers, toes, and ears as “souvenirs” and then burned Mr. Miller’s body in a public fire.  White people used racial terror lynching as a tool to instill fear in the broader Black community. Lynchings were not merely retaliation for a specific crime. Rather, lynchings were meant to send a larger message to the entire Black community of how quickly and easily they could be killed with no protection from the authorities. Following Mr. Miller’s brutal lynching, armed white residents began organizing to force Black residents to leave the area; law enforcement arrested no one for participating in Mr. Miller’s lynching and made no effort to investigate a white suspect in the girls’ killings, but continued to indiscriminately arrest local Black people on unfounded charges.  Within days, famed journalist and anti-lynching crusader Ida B. Wells traveled to Kentucky to investigate Mr. Miller’s lynching. Her account later published in the Chicago Inter Ocean newspaper detailed the cruel brutality of the lynching, the heartbreak of Mr. Miller’s widow, and the racism that allowed lynching in America to continue. Thus perished another of the many victims of lynch law, but it is the honest, sober belief of many who witnessed the scene, that an innocent man has been barbarously and shockingly put to death in the glare of the nineteenth century civilization, by those who profess to believe in Christianity, law, and order. These and similar deeds of violence are committed under the protection of the American flag and mostly upon the descendants of the negro race. Had Miller been ever so guilty under the laws, he was entitled to a fair trial. But there is absolutely no proof of his guilt. His widow says he left his home in Springfield July 1 to hunt work. She had a letter from him July 5, mailed at Cairo; when next she heard from him he had been murdered. The poor woman seems to have lost her mind since her trouble, and during her first frenzy destroyed this letter, the only clue by which her husband could be traced. She seems incapable of answering questions intelligently and lives in a state of nervous excitement. How long shall it be said of free America that a man shall not be given time nor opportunity to prove his innocence of crimes charged against him? To learn more about our country’s history of racial terrorism, read EJI’s reports, Lynching in America and Reconstruction in America.  

[jwood718]

New historic marker in Indianapolis; Jayden Kennett writing for the Indianapolis Recorder:

"The story of a Black man’s 1845 lynching in Downtown is now commemorated along the cultural trial. A public dedication unveiling the historical marker was held Sept. 30, 2023. The lynching of John Tucker was one of at least 19 racial terror lynchings that occurred in Indiana as recently as 1930, according to the Indiana Historical Bureau."  

"'Uncovering and documented [sic] uncomfortable history is an obligation that we all must share,' Eunice Trotter director of the Black Heritage Preservation Program at Indiana Landmarks said. 'Many of these stories are not easy to share. Yet this history we remember today reflects a time when such incidents are not uncommon.'”

The nearly unique part of the story is that there was a trial, and a white defendant found guilty.

'We the people must remember the lynching of John Tucker, quiet, mild mannered, hardworking, father of a girl, 13, and a boy, 10, here in Indianapolis after he was freed from slavery in Kentucky, murdered on the 4th of July 1845 as a crowd watched and participated. Here in Indiana, we the people are saying "Oh this really matters,"'" Trotter said."

Full story

[reasoningdaily]

On August 18, 1889, a mob of white people in Chatham County, Georgia, lynched Walter Asbury after he was accused of assaulting a white girl in the community. In an effort to terrorize the Black community, the mob left his body hanging all day with a sign that read: “This is the way we protect our homes.” On August 17, a young girl reported that she had been assaulted in her home in Pooler, Georgia. When news spread that the alleged attacker was a Black man, white mobs in Pooler began searching the surrounding area for the alleged assailant. Mr. Asbury, who was attending a local dance about a mile from the scene, was located just after midnight and seized by the mob. The deep racial hostility that permeated Southern society during this time period often served to focus suspicion on Black communities after a crime was discovered or alleged, whether evidence supported that suspicion or not. Almost 25% of all lynchings involved allegations of inappropriate behavior between a Black man and a white woman that was characterized as "assault" or "sexual assault." The mere accusation of sexual impropriety regularly aroused violent mobs and ended in lynching. Allegations against Black people were rarely subject to scrutiny. Though no evidence linked Mr. Asbury to the crime, a mob of 300 white men from Pooler captured him and took him to an open field. Just after midnight, the mob hanged him next to a railroad track 10 miles west of Savannah and riddled his body with bullets. Newspapers reported that Mr. Asbury asked for time to pray in the moments leading up to his lynching and, right before he was killed, begged that word be sent to his wife. Mr. Asbury’s body was left hanging by the railroad tracks all day with a sign that read: “This is the way we protect our homes” in an effort to intimidate the entire Black community. The practice of terrorizing members of the Black community following racial violence was common during this period. Southern lynching was not only intended to impose “popular justice” or retaliation for a specific crime. Rather, these lynchings were meant to send a broader message of domination and to instill fear within the entire Black community. Mobs often forced a victim’s body to hang for hours and even prevented families from claiming their loved ones. In this case, more than 24 hours passed before the coroner was permitted to cut down Mr. Asbury’s body. No one was ever held accountable for the lynching of Walter Asbury. Mr. Asbury was one of at least two victims of racial terror lynchings in Chatham County and one of at least 593 victims in Georgia between 1877 and 1950. To learn more, read the Equal Justice Initiative’s report, Lynching in America.

[artthatgivesmefeelings]

Albert Lynch (German-Peruvian, 1851-1912) Playing Surf Side, n.d.

[nicolethered]

Burn in hell Mike Parson

[ogenoger]

Twin Peaks: The Return

[degeneratedworker]

"The First Lesson. This way the society in which vices reign gives the child their first lessons." Soviet Union 1964

[astudyinfreewill]

thing is i know ronan lynch is extremely male presenting. like mstief has made this abundantly clear. he is a guy’s guy through and through, muscle bro, gym tank top, piss in the woods, manly beard type of guy who likes guy things like fast cars and power tools. i get this. i understand it. so you have to understand that when i say he would deeply relate to the lyric i’ve got that good girl faith and a tight little skirt i do mean in a purely spiritual way. like that’s very much not him but also in a real way it IS him. do you see my vision

[reasonsforhope]

"When President Joe Biden signed a proclamation Tuesday establishing a national monument honoring Emmett Till and his mother, Mamie Till-Mobley, it marked the fulfillment of a promise Till’s relatives made after his death 68 years ago.

The Black teenager from Chicago, whose abduction, torture and killing in Mississippi in 1955 helped propel the Civil Rights Movement, is now an American story, not just a civil rights story, said Till’s cousin the Rev. Wheeler Parker Jr.

“It has been quite a journey for me from the darkness to the light,” Parker said during a proclamation signing ceremony at the White House attended by dozens, including other family members, members of Congress and civil rights leaders.

“Back then in the darkness, I could never imagine the moment like this, standing in the light of wisdom, grace and deliverance,” he said.

With the stroke of Biden’s pen, the Emmett Till and Mamie Till-Mobley National Monument, located across three sites in two states, became federally-protected places. Before signing the proclamation, the president said he marvels at the courage of the Till family to “find faith and purpose in pain.”

“Today, on what would have been Emmett’s 82nd birthday, we add another chapter in the story of remembrance and healing,” Biden said...

On Tuesday, reaction poured in from other elected officials and from the civil rights organizing community. The Rev. Al Sharpton said the Till national monument designation tells him “that out of pain comes power.”

House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jefferies said the monument “places the life and legacy of Emmett Till among our nation’s most treasured memorials.”

“Black history is American history,” he said in a written statement...

Till-Mobley demanded that Emmett’s mutilated remains be taken back to Chicago for a public, open casket funeral that was attended by tens of thousands of people. Graphic images taken of Emmett’s remains, sanctioned by his mother, were published by Jet magazine and fueled the Civil Rights Movement...

Altogether, the Till national monument will include 5.7 acres (2.3 hectares) of land and two historic buildings. The Mississippi sites are Graball Landing, the spot where Emmett’s body was pulled from the Tallahatchie River just outside of Glendora, Mississippi, and the Tallahatchie County Second District Courthouse in Sumner, Mississippi, where Emmett’s killers were tried...

The Illinois site is Roberts Temple Church of God in Christ in Chicago, where Emmett’s funeral was held in September 1955...

Mississippi state Sen. David Jordan, 90, was a freshman at Mississippi Valley State College in 1955 when he attended part of the trial of the two men charged with killing Emmett. As a state senator for the past 30 years, Jordan, who is Black, spearheaded fundraising for a statue of Emmett Till that was dedicated last year in Greenwood, Mississippi, a few miles from where the teenager was abducted.

On Tuesday, Jordan praised Biden for creating the Till national monument.

“It’s one of the greatest honors that a president could pay to a person, 14, who lost his life in Mississippi that’s created a movement that changed America,” Jordan told the AP."

-via AP, July 25, 2023

[thashining]

He murdered him because he was black. They invited he because he murdered a black man. Half the country voted for this mentality, because they are this mentality. Noted

[ausetkmt]

Remember and never forget..

[whitesinhistory]

On May 22, 1917, a white mob numbering in the thousands brutally lynched a Black man named Ell Persons in Memphis, Tennessee. Authorities in Memphis had arrested Mr. Persons after a killing that had taken place earlier in the month. During this era, the deep racial hostility that permeated Southern society burdened Black people with a presumption of guilt that often served to focus suspicion on Black communities after a crime was discovered. A later investigation concluded that no evidence tied Mr. Persons to the killing. The local sheriff and his men tortured Mr. Persons while he was in their custody. The authorities beat, whipped, and threatened Mr. Persons until he was said to have confessed. Black people accused of crimes in the South during this era were regularly subjected to physical and psychological violence during police interrogations. Local newspapers eagerly reported these confessions as truthful justifications for the brutal lynchings that followed, but without fair investigation, the confession of a lynching victim was always more reliable evidence of fear than guilt. Before Mr. Persons could receive a trial, a white mob seized him from the authorities, who did little to stop them. Local newspapers advertised the planned time and location of the lynching in advance, and on May 22, thousands of people congregated at the site of the lynching near the Wolf River. One newspaper later reported that nearly 10,000 people were present. Newspapers described the day as having a “holiday” atmosphere and a “spirit of carnival.” Vendors sold food and drink to members of the mob. Many local parents sent notes to schools to excuse their children’s absences so they could attend the lynching. When the crowd was assembled, the leaders of the mob dragged Mr. Persons to a clearing, tied him to a log, covered him with gasoline, and burned him alive.

After Mr. Persons was lynched, members of the mob fought each other for pieces of his body and clothes to take home as "souvenirs." They then drove through town displaying Mr. Persons’ remains to terrorize the rest of the Black residents of Memphis. Though the mob lynched Mr. Persons in broad daylight and the mob members did not attempt to hide their identities, no one was ever held accountable for lynching Mr. Persons. Ell Persons was one of at least 236 documented Black victims of racial terror lynching killed in Tennessee between 1877 and 1950 and one of 20 victims killed in modern-day Shelby County. To learn more, read EJI’s report, Lynching in America.

[killianlynch]

Hi Killy , your opinion about germans / germany ?

No opinions on anyone based on ethnicity or race.... except the goddamned colonizing Brits and the fuckin Italians... The damned Italian mafia is like a fuckin nail being hammered up my fuckin cock hole!

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Eric Hananoki at MMFA:

Heritage Foundation president and Project 2025 architect Kevin Roberts told a conservative audience earlier this year that access to abortion was a comparable evil to slavery, lynchings, concentration camps, and Adolf Hitler.  Roberts is closely tied to the Trump-Vance campaign. Roberts and former President Donald Trump flew on a private plane together in 2022 and then Trump praised him during a Heritage speech, stating: “He’s going to be so incredible.” Trump’s running mate, Sen. JD Vance (R-OH), wrote the foreword for Roberts' now-delayed book.   [...] Roberts gave a January 20 speech to the National Pro-Life Summit, which was hosted by Project 2025 advisory board member Students for Life of America (SLA). During the speech, he said that there is an “evil that underlies mankind’s greatest horrors,” and then compared abortion access to slavery, lynchings, concentration camps, and Adolf Hitler, among others. 

Heritage Foundation President Kevin Roberts spoke at Project 2025 partner and anti-abortion extremist group Students for Life of America’s National Pro-Life Summit earlier this year on January 20th grotesquely comparing abortion to slavery, lynching, and the Holocaust.

[stillunusual]

The lynching of Charles Mitchell in Urbana, Ohio on 4th June 1897....