The Tragedy of Lynching

by Arthur F. Raper

Overview

The lynching of African-Americans by white mobs is part of the deplorable history of racial prejudice and injustice in America. A marked increase in the incidence of lynching in early 1930 prompted the formation of the Southern Commission on the Study of Lynching, composed of Southern scholars and investigators (including African-Americans) and headed by the noted sociologist and civil rights activist Arthur F. Raper. Their study of more than 20 lynchings that occurred in 1930 was one of the most thorough and perceptive accounts and analyses ever done on the subject. Of the work, the New Republic wrote "... no other book on lynching has probed so deeply as this one or set forth its conclusions so fearlessly." Each lynching is examined in detail: the alleged crime, the formation of the mob, and the behavior of the police. In addition, the historic and economic backgrounds of each county where the lynching occurred is examined, along with the existing race relations and attitudes of local leaders, churches, and the press.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781469640211
Publisher:	The University of North Carolina Press
Publication date:	10/10/2017
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	510
File size:	2 MB

Table of Contents

	Introduction	v
Part 1	The Toll of the Mob	1
I.	Salient Facts about Lynchings in 1930	3
II.	General Aspects of Lynching	25
III.	The Tragedy of the Mob	40
Part 2	Lynchings in Black Belt Counties	55
IV.	"Blue Eyed Niggers"	59
V.	"Decent Burial" for Lynched Pair	85
VI.	"Imperial Bolivar" and What It Means	94
VII.	North Carolina Slips Back	107
VIII.	"Red-Boned Nigger from Louisiana"	125
Part 3	Lynchings in Southeast Georgia	139
IX.	Lynched after an All-Night Man-Hunt	141
X.	He Angered the "Lily Whites"	172
XI.	Lynched in His Cell	203
XII.	The Sheriff Keeps Faith with the Mob	233
Part 4	Lynchings in Piedmont Counties	261
XIII.	"Framed" and Lynched	263
XIV.	Twenty Minutes Late	286
XV.	Mobs--"Orderly" and Disorderly	302
Part 5	Mob Outbreaks in North Texas and Central Oklahoma	317
XVI.	Burning Down the Courthouse	319
XVII.	No Property Destroyed	356
XVIII.	Death in Cell by Gun and Knife	369
Part 6	Lynchings Outside the South	384
XIX.	A Public Affair	387
XX.	Chained to Ridge Pole and Burned	407
Part 7	Foiling the Mob	441
XXI.	Protecting Their Prisoners	443
XXII.	Cooperation of Police and Courts	454
	Lynchings in 1930, 1931, 1932	469
	Threatened Lynchings Prevented 1930-33	473
	Lynchings by Years, by Causes, etc.	480