At the Hands of Persons UnknownAt the Hands of Persons Unknown
the Lynching of Black America
Title rated 4.5 out of 5 stars, based on 11 ratings(11 ratings)
Book, 2002
Current format, Book, 2002, 1st ed, Available .Book, 2002
Current format, Book, 2002, 1st ed, Available . Offered in 0 more formatsIt is easy to shrink from our country's brutal history of lynching. Lynching is called the last great skeleton in our nation's closet: It terrorized all of black America, claimed thousands upon thousands of victims in the decades between the 1880s and the Second World War, and leaves invisible but deep scars to this day. The cost of pushing lynching into the shadows, however - misremembering it as isolated acts perpetrated by bigots on society's fringes - is insupportably high: Until we understand how pervasive and socially accepted the practice was - and, more important, why this was so - it will haunt all efforts at racial reconciliation.
The celebrated historian Philip Dray shines a clear, bright light on this dark history - its causes, perpetrators, apologists, and victims. He also tells the story of the men and women who led the long and difficult fight to expose and eradicate lynching, including Ida B. Wells, James Weldon Johnson, Walter White, and W. E. B. Du Bois. If lynching is emblematic of what is worst about America, their fight may stand for what is best: the love of justice and fairness and the conviction that one individual's sense of right can suffice to defy the gravest of wrongs. This book follows the trajectory of both forces over American history - and makes the history of lynching belong to us all.
A definitive history of lynching in America describes its common use, especially in the southern United States, when thousands of African-American men, women, and children were tortured, mutilated, hanged, or burned alive in ceremonies witnessed by white crowds, and discusses the crusade by a handful of black and white citizens to eliminate the shameful practice. 25,000 first printing.
A history of lynching in America describes its common use, especially in the southern United States, and discusses the crusade by a handful of black and white citizens to eliminate the shameful practice.
The celebrated historian Philip Dray shines a clear, bright light on this dark history - its causes, perpetrators, apologists, and victims. He also tells the story of the men and women who led the long and difficult fight to expose and eradicate lynching, including Ida B. Wells, James Weldon Johnson, Walter White, and W. E. B. Du Bois. If lynching is emblematic of what is worst about America, their fight may stand for what is best: the love of justice and fairness and the conviction that one individual's sense of right can suffice to defy the gravest of wrongs. This book follows the trajectory of both forces over American history - and makes the history of lynching belong to us all.
A definitive history of lynching in America describes its common use, especially in the southern United States, when thousands of African-American men, women, and children were tortured, mutilated, hanged, or burned alive in ceremonies witnessed by white crowds, and discusses the crusade by a handful of black and white citizens to eliminate the shameful practice. 25,000 first printing.
A history of lynching in America describes its common use, especially in the southern United States, and discusses the crusade by a handful of black and white citizens to eliminate the shameful practice.
Title availability
About
Subject and genre
Details
Publication
- New York : Random House, c2002.
Opinion
More from the community
Community lists featuring this title
There are no community lists featuring this title
Community contributions
There are no quotations from this title
There are no quotations from this title
From the community