Let Justice Ring: I Am Guilty

Let Justice Ring: I Am Guilty: I have borrowed a phrase from Thomas Merton's book and shaped it into these words. The context of this poem is that of the days between ...

Lynchings During and After Reconstruction: Brutalities to be Remembered

In an attempt to situate a little further the materials that I posted about monuments, lynching, and land loss, here is a quote from an article I wrote in 2018 about what lynchings were all about. 

"In the decades following the Civil War, an era of violence erupted, not unlike that of the infamous “patrollers” in slavery days in which black mobility and freedom attempts were met with violence. In particular, lynching was used to instill terror in the black population. Two sites contain the most thorough information on the history of lynching in America. The initial work of Monroe Work (n.d.) for the decades following Reconstruction lists the names of 4,800 plus and the work of the Environment Justice Initiative (n.d.) between the years 1877 and 1950 provides chilling information about the 4,400 plus African Americans who were lynched. According to Hahn (2003: 425–427), these mob executions or lynchings were symptomatic of the tensions between whites and blacks, as the former used this form of violence in an attempt to maintain power, as blacks exerted their rights. Hale (1998: 203, 204) emphasized lynchings as public spectacle as “structure, a sequence and pace of events” that went from allegations to mob violence following scene preparation, mutilation and/or hanging, and souvenir collecting, among other variables. Tolnay, Deane, and Beck (1996: 811) explored lynching from a spatial perspective—how lynching in one community impacted the same in another community. Their “deterrence model” of lynching is supported by evidence that whites ceased lynching activities when they were satisfied that the results would cause blacks to be “even more circumspect in their interactions so as not to provoke violent responses.” Young (2005: 641) focused research not upon numbers, nor spectacle, but upon the black body as souvenir." --- page 908. 

The complete article can be found at Hinson, W. R. (2018). Land Gains, Land Losses: The Odyssey of African Americans Since Reconstruction. The American Journal of Economics and Sociology, 77, 893-939. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/ajes.12233

Confederate Monuments and the History of Lynching, and Maybe Land Theft?

I am a marriage and family therapist by training, a family psychologist if you will. We are trained to think systemically, about patterns, triangles, coalitions, contexts and meaning, and all manner of other things. 

I am also a guy who grew up in Jim Crow South and its leftover vestiges in East Texas in the '50s. Many of my family and friends adhere to longstanding principles and practices such that Civil War monuments should stay in place and that they reflect, as does the flag, heritage and family. I have long thought that was nonsense, especially when listening to what my African American friends think about those things. 

At the courthouse in Sumner, Mississippi on a recent trip with a group from Abilene 

Christian University, I commented out loud while reading one of the monuments posted long after the Civil War that this should be relegated to a museum somewhere. A young Black man, over my shoulder to my left said assertively, "It should be blown up." I listened to him. I honor him. This was in the shadow of the courthouse where the murderers of Emmett Till were given a verdict of not guilty by an all white jury. 

Then just a few days ago, a research project in a refereed journal came across my desk. Authored by profs from the University of Virginia, and its departments of Psychology, the Equity Center, and the school of Leadership and Public Policy, the article asserted that there is a statistical relationship between the location of monuments and lynchings of Black people. You can read the complete article here. 

I can hear folks now dismissing their findings. I can hear folks denying the reality of what they discovered. I can hear people defending the South, the flag, and the monuments, and all the while, knowing that they are really defending the institution of slavery implicitly or showing their racist colors. 

The authors located monuments across the South, the counties and states within which they were dedicated, and the number of lynchings during that particular time period. While honoring the South, the Confederacy, chivalry, women, and denigrating "negroes" and other invaders of their land, these monuments were dedicated a number of years following the end of the war. Some 1,500 were found to be celebrating white supremacy and other things, but, in fact, they "were intended to to intimidate Black Americans" (p. 2/6). The dates of the dedications were 1900 to 1920. Obviously, some were dedicated outside of that dominant window. The authors identified 1,135 counties across 11 Southern states and 1,744 lynchings. 

Their findings are the following. There is a statistical relationship between the number of lynchings, lynchings among neighboring counties, the percentage enslaved in 1860, the percentage enslaved amoung neighborning counties, the population in 1880, and the percent of population change in 1930. 

Their section entitled "Backlash against Black Progress: The Role of Violent Mobs and Lynching" deserves a close read. 

This looks pretty compelling to me. One comment of note: "Unsurprisingly, the legacy of slavery is connected to memorials and to racial terror, but the later lynchings retain additional predictive power above and beyond this history, further evidence to support our hypothesis that Confederate memorializations reflect the backlash against Black progress embedded in lynching" (p. 4/6). 

On a more personal level, Judge J. M. Crosson returned to Livingston, Polk County, Texas on October 10, 1901 to give the address at the dedication of the Civil War monument. This is area is where my paternal folks come from. Some of his comments include: 

"Standing by this monument we will discuss the heroism of the Confederate soldiers—"how defeat does not always establish the wrong"—how the organic principles of constitutional liberty went down in a bloody night—how principle lost, and force won. This monument will keep alive in our own hearts the ties that can only be expressed by the strong grasp of the hand, the quivering lip, the falling tear, and can only die when our hearts lie mouldering in the grave.....They were politicians who never heard the wild rebel yell, and placed over us negroes, carpetbaggers (ghouls full of spleen and arrogance) and scalawags; hellish cormorants, who are named in the order of their respectability, and who have sunk so low in the depths of infamy that the eye of fancy scarce can reach them. There are two individuals I hate—the devil and the politician. Two classes I love—the old Confederates and the women. God bless them!.....Sons and daughters, you should be proud that you are the children of these glorious women, proud of their heroic virtues of the Confederate soldier."

In a nutshell, Black progress is linked to hatred, monuments, and lynchings. 

On a connecting note, the window of time, 1910 and 1920 were the years in which African Americans owned and farmed the largest number of acres. Data indictates that some 920,000 Black farmers worked some 16,M+ acres, and thereafter begins a precipitous slide of land theft, much, much larger than white farmers and their land loss. Back in that day, Black farmers comprised 14% of the total number of farmers, but now, that percentage is something like 1.4%. I've provided those numbers in other posts. 

So, my question for my readers is this:  if there is a correlation between memorializations and lynchings, is there a similar relationship betwixt and between memorializations, lynchings, and land theft?

Intuitively that makes sense. Maybe there is a university that can take on that project while utilizing data from the University of Virginia. 

Let Justice Ring: "Slow Walking?" Or, Why Has It Taken So Long, Mr. ...

Let Justice Ring: "Slow Walking?" Or, Why Has It Taken So Long, Mr. ...: The wheels of justice grind slowly. The wheels of bureaucracy grind slowly. While the grind is slow and painful, people are dying, losing th...

Equity: Federal Government and the USDA

Shortly after President Biden was inauguarated he issued a formal, presidential executive order, "Executive Order on Advancing Racial Equity and Support for Underserved Communities Through the Federal Government," signed January 20, 2021. This was an effort I applauded. 

Shortly thereafter, the USDA under the leadership of Secretary Tom Vilsack, announced the intention to establish an Equity Commission, ostensibly to root out inequities in the Department. While the USDA can be applauded for acknowledging decades of systemic racism and its determination to root it out of the system, the folks that I hang with were not impressed. I was not impressed. We were totally unimpressed. 

"Why were we not impressed?" you might ask. Good question. An Equity Commission is being set up to assess what we already know, to find solutions to questions that we already know. And, we know that the USDA knows. The USDA has done internal investigations for decades, and external investigations have been conducted for decades, so what will an Equity Commission find that has not already been found and announced before? Good question. 

What documents do we have access to that buttress our opinion? Here they are, and they have been listed in a variety of communications that we've had with the USDA and even with the White House: the 1965 Civil Rights commission report, the 1982 Civil Rights commission report, the 1997 Civil Rights Action Team Report, the 1997 Civil Rights Implementation Team Report, the D. J. Miller Report of 1996, the Jackson-Lewis Report of 2011, the Office of the Inspector General Report of 2021, and many, many more. 

The Equity Commission will present its findings in 2023 or 2024. In the meantime, how many Black farmers will die? How many have to die while the Commission is studying what we already know to be the case? I think this is a shell game. I think this is an unnecessary kicking the can down the road game. 

Here is what I wrote for an investigative reporter: "It is notable that President Biden is focusing upon equity across the federal government. It is also significant that Secretary Tom Vilsack is appointing an Equity Commission and a subcommittee for Agriculture; however, I am not optimistic about their relevance nor their abilities to contribute to change within the department. It has taken an inordinate amount of time to put it together. Its work will not be forthcoming until 2024. In the meantime, how many more Black farmers will have lost their land?

The USDA has a long and storied history of examining itself via both internal and external investigations. Numerous reviews are available: the 1965 document on Civil Rights; the 1982 document on Civil Rights; the D. J. Miller Report of 1996; the Civil Rights Action Team Report of 1997; the Civil Rights Implementation Team Report of 1997; the Jackson-Lewis Report of 2011; and many more from the GAO and the OIG.

 It is my opinion that the Equity Commission will find only that which has been found before. It find once more that gross disparities have existed for decades between Black farmers, other farmers of color, and white farmers in terms of programs and services.  It is also my opinion that the real truth of the matter is whether or not the secretary will give the Commission the freedom to do its work and then to bring about the systemic change that has been needed for decades. I am not optimistic about these matters given the history of the USDA.

 At best, some findings will be published. At worst, they will be placed in a filing cabinet and lost until the next report and commission."

Committee members and subcommittee members, please tell the truth and tell the truth quickly. Do not let the Secretary perform some slight of hand. We are watching. We are waiting. We will continue to hold Secretary Vilsack accountable. We will continue to let President Biden know of the liabilities of his appointee. The USDA has been guilty of malfeasance for decades. That's what our documentary is all about: Blackfarmersinsearchofjusticefilm.com. 

Good luck with your work, and as you do, start with the list that we've generated in previous communications with Vilsack and the president. We will be more than happy to share them and others with you. 

Equity Commission members: 

 

Arturo S. Rodriguez, California

Hazell Reed, Arkansas

Toni Stanger-McLaughlin, Washington

Derrick Johnson, Mississippi

Ronald Rainey, Arkansas

Mireya Loza, District of Columbia

Charles Rawls, Virginia

Shorlette Ammons, North Carolina

Poppy Sias-Hernandez, Michigan

Todd Corley, Ohio

Yvonne Lee, California

Elizabeth Lower-Basch, Virginia

Shirley Sherrod, Georgia

Ertharin Cousin, Illinois

Rick Smith, Missouri

           

The new agriculture subcommittee members are:

 

Shari Rogge-Fidler, Illinois

Savonala Horne, North Carolina

Alexis Racelis, Texas

Gina Eubanks, Louisiana

Michelle Hughes, Virginia

Kari Jo Lawrence, South Dakota

PJ Haynie III, Virginia

Russell Redding, Pennsylvania

Janssen Hang, Minnesota

Erica Lomeli Corcoran, California

Sarah Vogel, North Dakota

Gary Matteson, New Hampshire

Jennie Stephens, South Carolina

More details can be found at: www.usda.gov/equity-commission.

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