The lynching of African Americans

Lynching of African Americans in the United States for real or imagined offenses continued in the 20th century, often with little or no opposition from formal agencies of control--police, courts, and other public officials. Although lynch mobs are uncommon today, occasional instances of mob behavior take place over issues such as busing or housing, during political conventions and rallies, and among student or labor groups angry about perceived injustices.

The term "lynching" is derived from the activities of Charles Lynch, a Virginia colonist who attempted to maintain law and order before the establishment of formal courts. As applied in the 19th and 20th centuries, however, the word meant terrorism and murder outside the legal system. A term associated with law and order could easily be appropriated by those who would seek to rationalize their own heinous devices.

The Ku Klux Klan, founded in Tennessee in 1866, was only one of a number of organizations which mushroomed forth as a reaction to the increasing "leniency" afforded African Americans in the aftermath of the Civil War. During the Reconstruction period in the afterm

. . .
liberate violence. Mobs typically break up quickly, since they have limited objectives. In some cases, mob behavior reflects the intentions of effective leaders, who encourage unity of purpose in mob members, as typified by the Ku Klux Klan. This sociological definition is important to the understanding of lynching behavior in an historical context, and it in no way absolves lynch mobs of their behavioral abberations. It remains a widespread belief that crowd behavior is crude and almost mindless. Stark points to popular opinion when he observes, Gustave Le Bon's little book The Crowd (1895) is the classic statement of the view that crowd behavior is mindless. Le Bon said that crowds are guided by primitive, subconscious motives and that the crowd is stupid, impulsive, and frequently rendered mad by fantastic images. "Like a savage, it [the crowd] is not prepared to admit that anything can come between its desire and the realization of its desire ... its acts are far more under the influence of the spinal cord than of the brain." History and sociology have shown that, despite the fact that this is a commonly-shared view, it is entirely false. Lynchings were deliberate and conscious attempts to control behavior, and,
. . .

Some common words found in the essay are:
African Americans, Le Bon, Americans United, Klux Klan, Tallahatchie River, Woodruff's Jackson, Bailey Louisiana, Lynch Virginia, African American, Nell Carter, african americans, african american, social control, crowd behavior, aftermath civil, aftermath civil war, 20th century, civil war, african americans starting, sociology 2nd, civil rights, sociology 2nd ed, company 1987, america's civil rights, ku klux klan,
Approximate Word count = 1490
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page)