Blackwell Reference Online

Extract

This term refers to the extra-legal public murder of persons by crowds that make no (or little) effort to hide their identities. Between 1882 and 1968, there were 4,743 lynchings, of which 60.4 percent took place before 1901 and 30.7 percent during 1901–20. Overall, 72.7 percent of the victims were black and 27.3 percent white. Only during 1882–90 were a majority of victims white (52.3 percent), and after 1900, they comprised just 9.9 percent of those killed by mobs. In 1921 pressure by the N ational A ssociation for the A dvancement of C olored P eople led Congress to debate a federal anti-lynching law, which passed the House but not the Senate. Unsuccessful attempts to enact this measure continued through the 1950s. Public lynching (as opposed to private conspiracies to commit murder) died out after 1920, with 389 occurrences during 1921–40 and 44 from then to 1968. ... log in or subscribe to read full text