Sunday afternoon lynchings
12 Apr '15 10:591 editSince the beginning of abolition some 4000 persons (some estimates as much as 5,500) were subjected to lynching. Most of these lynchings occurred after church services were concluded on Sunday afternoon.
A major reason why lynching is connected to Christianity is that most lynchings actually occurred on Sunday afternoons, shortly after church services concluded. After Sunday services were let out, these executions were well attended by Christians. This harsh reality is not only beyond frightening, but it also serves to prove the necessity of beginning this conversation. In fact, many of those believers who were present at lynchings did not consider themselves to be racist, because in their minds the racist were the ones actually conducting the lynching. These individuals would avoid the stigma of racism and the conviction of the Holy Spirit by rationalizing their presence as purely spectators; arguing that they just happened to be present at the scene of the hanging, which in their minds did not make them culpable.
Lynchings were photographed and turned into postcards, which would then be used to promote future lynchings. People would send these postcards to their friends inviting them to attend the next lynching as if it were a social soiree. According to historian Ralph Ginzberg, “lynching [which also frequently included burning, castrating, & disfiguring the victim,] were spectacles, announced in advance, attended by whites including women and children, and covered on assignment by newspaper reporters in a manner not unlike contemporary coverage of sporting events.”[1] The most disturbing part about this spiritually is that people who self-identified as Christians played a significant role in these events, in both the promotion and execution of lynchings. Dr. James Cone interview helped us think through the implications of this harsh reality in the interview we posted Friday (2-22) and his most recent book The Cross & the Lynching Tree.
Theologically, this exists as the most disturbing part of the lynching phenomenon. Believers’ lack of values and ethical response to God’s love was so nonexistent that it was commonly acceptable within the last one hundred years of this nation to watch someone be tortured, burned, castrated, and killed for sport just because of the color of their skin. Moreover, one’s faith was thought to have nothing to do with coming to the defense of these helpless victims. In fact, one’s faith did not even prohibit Christians from participating as enthusiastic observers within the crowds.
- Pastor Dominique
http://convergeoakland.org/2013/02/sunday-lynchings-the-churchs-role-in-our-nations-legacy-of-racism/
This is quite a phenomena and from the article we can readily discern that those christians involved engaged in a kind of self justification. The point that interests me is what was actually being taught at those Church services? For it seems evident that it must have been so insipid as to have a negligible impact on the psyche of the churchgoers or that it actually fortified their hatred and violence.
A major reason why lynching is connected to Christianity is that most lynchings actually occurred on Sunday afternoons, shortly after church services concluded. After Sunday services were let out, these executions were well attended by Christians. This harsh reality is not only beyond frightening, but it also serves to prove the necessity of beginning this conversation. In fact, many of those believers who were present at lynchings did not consider themselves to be racist, because in their minds the racist were the ones actually conducting the lynching. These individuals would avoid the stigma of racism and the conviction of the Holy Spirit by rationalizing their presence as purely spectators; arguing that they just happened to be present at the scene of the hanging, which in their minds did not make them culpable.
Lynchings were photographed and turned into postcards, which would then be used to promote future lynchings. People would send these postcards to their friends inviting them to attend the next lynching as if it were a social soiree. According to historian Ralph Ginzberg, “lynching [which also frequently included burning, castrating, & disfiguring the victim,] were spectacles, announced in advance, attended by whites including women and children, and covered on assignment by newspaper reporters in a manner not unlike contemporary coverage of sporting events.”[1] The most disturbing part about this spiritually is that people who self-identified as Christians played a significant role in these events, in both the promotion and execution of lynchings. Dr. James Cone interview helped us think through the implications of this harsh reality in the interview we posted Friday (2-22) and his most recent book The Cross & the Lynching Tree.
Theologically, this exists as the most disturbing part of the lynching phenomenon. Believers’ lack of values and ethical response to God’s love was so nonexistent that it was commonly acceptable within the last one hundred years of this nation to watch someone be tortured, burned, castrated, and killed for sport just because of the color of their skin. Moreover, one’s faith was thought to have nothing to do with coming to the defense of these helpless victims. In fact, one’s faith did not even prohibit Christians from participating as enthusiastic observers within the crowds.
- Pastor Dominique
http://convergeoakland.org/2013/02/sunday-lynchings-the-churchs-role-in-our-nations-legacy-of-racism/
This is quite a phenomena and from the article we can readily discern that those christians involved engaged in a kind of self justification. The point that interests me is what was actually being taught at those Church services? For it seems evident that it must have been so insipid as to have a negligible impact on the psyche of the churchgoers or that it actually fortified their hatred and violence.
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