Newspapers Treat Lynching As Normal and Necessary

 

A flag flown from an upper-story window of the NAACP headquarters on 69 Fifth Avenue, New York City, 1936, 

July 26, 1909 – Eastman, Georgia: At one point in American history lynching of Black men was so common it was barely reported in the newspapers and when it was the basics were almost always the same.

For example, today’s case from 1909. An African American man named King Green was accused by two white girls, daughters of a prominent citizen, of trying to steal their horse. Their screams frightened him, so he ran off.

The basic outline of nearly every lynching story is right there, a White girl, a prominent citizen, and a negro man. In this case, the story identified him as a “Fiend” which was pretty common, other common adjectives were brute or beast. This was done to remove the basic humanity of the lynching victim.

In this case, the sheriff and his deputies got dogs from a nearby prison camp and chased King about 20 miles to Gum Swamp, Georgia where they finally captured him. As they headed back to Eastman a mob of at least 175 White men intercepted them and demanded the Black prisoner. Which the sheriff and his deputies just turned over.

There is an accusation by two White girls against one negro. The newspaper just reports the accusation as a proven fact. Was it King Green? Had they been approached by a negro man? Was the negro taken into custody the same man? The newspapers just reported it as facts with no supporting evidence.

Law enforcement just turned the prisoner over. This is never questioned either, at least in this darkest time of Jim Crow white supremacy. The mob is considered the way to get justice and not the law. No lawman is going to risk his life to protect a Black prisoner.

The mob then takes the prisoner. What’s slightly unusual in the King Green lynching is that there is no mention of getting the girls to identify the “Fiend”. There is also no report of the Black man admitting his guilt which is also a bit unusual in reporting. For most of the lynchings between 1880 and 1920, both of these were mentioned in approximately 90 percent of stories. Another way to assuage the guilt of anyone in the community who might have a conscious.

The mob took Green to the nearest tree that would support his weight and hung him. It isn’t reported whether they also shot his body up or set him afire, so it was a bit more civilized. Then the crown “peacefully” disbanded and went on their way. This is how most lynchings in this period ended. Basically, the mob was doling out justice that a regular trial might not.

Lynching was just a necessary part or rather the reporters and editors of the newspapers seemed to think since the outline of every story was as fixed as the standard classified ad.

Source: The Manning Times. (July 28, 1909). King Green 1. Newspapers.com. Retrieved July 26, 2024, from https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-manning-times-king-green-1/152067180/ning-times-king-green-1/152067180/