After Decades of Inaction, A Time to Heal A Nation's Wounds Over Lynching

[kerrygoddess]

John Kerry: After Decades of Inaction, A Time to Heal A Nation's Wounds Over Lynching
13 June 2005

"For too many who have never stopped to consider the thousands of their fellow citizens who died swinging from a tree branch because of the color of their skin, and for those who know too well the vicious act that took away a father, brother, son or loved one, this is a day of reckoning for America.

"It is tragically and unforgivably late in coming, but important that the United States Senate is now talking openly about one of the biggest stains on our history, and working to heal wounds across generations.

"Almost 5,000 Americans lost their lives to hangings, floggings and burnings. Countless others were terrorized. And every single one of them was robbed of the bedrock promise our country was built upon. We can never erase what Mr. Cameron, Mr. Wright, and too many others went through, but we can honor the legacy of these civil rights heroes before us and the martyrs who came before by finally saying on behalf of the American people, 'We are sorry, we do remember, and we will never forget.'

"I am honored to cosponsor this official apology with Senators Landrieu and Allen and Leader Reid. It is time to put into actions - not just words - the commitment to justice for which so many were so tragically killed, and to bring us one step closer on the journey of civil rights in our country."

Related News Stories - http://www.lightupthedarkness.org/blog/default.asp?view=plink&id=1071

[sam sarrha]

1. the good old days when Lynching was legal..?? Legal?? Legal? Legal?

:wtf:

[KingFlorez]

2. It was not actually legal

I think The Senate is apologizing for not passing a bill to ensure that lynching didn't happen.

[kerrygoddess]

3. The statement DID NOT say that!

Why are you twisting anybody's words?

:wtf: EXACTLY! :wtf:

[candy331]

4. This whole thing is circumspect, why go back 140 years in the past yet

not deal with the issues right in the present. I hope no one thinks this is a healing this is nothing but politics and a nice cover for the repugs who sign on and some Dems too, they know who they are. An apology means that you are sorry for your actions and will do something to show in good faith that you are sorry and have present works to see. Just as "Faith w/o works is dead, a piece of paper and words is just that, paper and words. Mind you, what deeds will go along with this paper and words. Landrieu needs to find another cause because this one is dead, lynched.

[TayTay]

5. Because Truth and Reconciliation matter

Bishop Desmond Tutu reminded us with his powerful hearings in South Africa that confronting evil in your midst and seeking forgiveness for it matter. It also says to those who suffered that they mattered and that the nation understands that it made an error. There were numerous times when the Senate of the United States of America could have stood up and said that this type of horror should never be allowed and the Senate failed to do so.

You don't just bear witness to events because you want to make peace with the past. You bear witness to awful events and admit that they happened because you need these memories preserved for the future, so that those not yet born can know that it can and did happen here. We, as a nation, cannot get past the evils of racism and the horrors of hatred unless we admit that it can happen in the Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave.

This is not intended to put a band-aid on the gaping wounds of lynching and racial, religious and ethnic hatred and violence. It is intended to erect a guard-post and an eternal watcher to see that it doesn't happen again. It matters.

[omega minimo]

6. Please reread your own post with fresh eyes

while imagining that you are from a family whose relative was lynched. In that case, this might seem significant to you.

Anyone with empathy may feel the tragedy of this history; sense the impacts on the lives of black Americans and all Americans. We may also appreciate the dignity, strength and culture that arose from an enslaved people. We may also apologize.

Your lack of compassion and respect, your flippant use of "lynched" in the context of this thread, show why this apology and this legislation are important.

A lot of racist artifacts and ephemera have been removed from public awareness. Some prominent artists and celebrities collect it. If you ever see the advertising and everyday items that used to be decorated with "darkie" imagery, you may be horrified.

We need to know our own history and own it. You are right-- the actions must occur in the present. This apology is one of those actions.

[Norquist Nemesis]

8. Agreed. That George Allen jumped in to save the day

is the biggest red flag (pun intended on the 'red) there is. His Presidential aspirations and all, the Republicans are trying to sway the minority vote toward them. It won't be long before we're hearing on broadcast media how it was the Democrats that were to blame for the whole thing. There won't be any follow-up facts on the history of those Democrats who left the party and became Republicans because they believed in separate but equal.

Look out folks! Revisionist history is ready to roll!!!

[omega minimo]

7. Strange Fruit

Over 4,700 African-Americans were lynched?! as reported on Lehrer Newshour last night! I did not know.

I did not know it was that PREVALENT.

Excellent discussion b/w Gwen Ifill and great-great-granddaughter of prominent landowner and community leader lynched in Abbieville (sp? & state?) 6-13-05

Transcript not on site; real audio at:
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/newshour_index.html

[Norquist Nemesis]

9. It wasn't just African-Americans though.

It was also whites who "sided" with blacks.

[omega minimo]

10. Whatever the breakdown (and the ill logic for it)

the "tradition" or history of lynching may be unfamiliar to many people growing up since the Civil Rights era or living far away from the places it occurred.

This is raising awareness of the horror perpetrated on black Americans. And whites who "sided" with them suffered the same treatment.

Right now, in Bush's wars and the genocide in Africa, we see the "strange fruit" borne by the dehumanization of brown people.

[lynne]

11. Not exactly -

There were over 4,700 victims of lynching. Of those, about 1,300 were white.

While some white's may have been lynched for sympathizing with blacks; sexual crimes - such as rape - was the cause of many white lynchings. White lynching was mostly done out west.