Lynching

Abstract

This chapter presents the horrifying reality of lynching, as removed from the sanitized depictions often seen in media. Racist lynchings were not merely extrajudicial executions. They typically included torture and bodily mutilation, with the remains of the victim being picked through and saved as souvenirs and memorabilia. In addition, lynchings were often treated as festive, public gatherings. The chapter asks how such actions could be made psychologically possible, especially on such a large scale as during the Jim Crow era. Part of the answer lies in dehumanizing beliefs that many Whites held about Black people—especially Black men. Moreover, representations of Black people as subhuman animals were not confined to the popular press. They also bore the stamp of academic authority.