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Nineteenth-century Southern lynchings and the armed black man

1K views 15 replies 10 participants last post by  Arete 
#1 ·
I've been reading some material by Ida B. Wells, the nineteenth-century feminist and black activist. Specifically, I'm interested in her work on Southern lynching. Writing in 1892, she suggests a number of general solutions to this horrific problem, but on a specific level, she sees one thing that makes a difference:

Of the many inhuman outrages of this present year, the only case where the proposed lynching did not occur, was where the men armed themselves in Jacksonville, Fla., and Paducah, Ky, and prevented it. The only times an Afro-American who was assaulted got away has been when he had a gun and used it in self-defense.

The lesson this teaches and which every Afro-American should ponder well, is that a Winchester rifle should have a place of honor in every black home, and it should be used for that protection which the law refuses to give. When the white man who is always the aggressor knows he runs as great risk of biting the dust every time his Afro-American victim does, he will have greater respect for Afro-American life. The more the Afro-American yields and cringes and begs, the more he has to do so, the more he is insulted, outraged and lynched.​

Although much in our society has improved since then, much remains the same. We still have firearms for that protection which the law cannot give. And we still know that cringing and begging leads only to more cringing and begging. This is true regardless of race or identity.

(Italic font is in original. I've added bold font for emphasis.)
 
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#3 ·
Depressing or not, it's better than the alternative--and a good rifle has kept some people from having that alternative chosen for them.

I'd recommend an AR over anything Winchester makes these days, though.
 
#4 ·
Gun control has racism at it roots. If people doubt the need for "military grade firepower," they can read about the owner of the NY Times using a gatling gun to keep his business from being burned by mobs...or the "race riots" (really pogroms) of the early 20th century, in which scores of blacks were killed by shooting, fire, and lynching...even fire bombs dropped from private planes.

There's a reason history isn't taught anymore.
 
#7 ·
Speaking of Douglass, he offered a letter to open the piece I linked above. In part, it reads: "There has been no word equal to it in convincing power. I have spoken, but my word is feeble in comparison. You give us what you know and testify from actual knowledge. You have dealt with the facts with cool, painstaking fidelity and left those naked and uncontradicted facts to speak for themselves."

If only everyone were better at dealing with actual knowledge and facts.
 
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#9 ·
One reason I really like Colion Noir, he just says it like it is ..... he just cuts thru the middle noise. LOL
 
#8 ·
I'm planning on eternal life with people from all nations. If we can't have love without discrimination here why would we think we would make it to heaven . That doesn't mean I lay down my gun and become a slave.
 
#11 ·
Interesting I live in Jacksonville FL and my roots are in Paducah KY.

Also, I didn't know the term "Afro-American" went back that far.

Who said that DC isn't informative?
 
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#16 ·
Now you have me curious. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, it dates back a bit before then: "1831 Missionary Reg. Mar. 158/1 The Rev. G. M. Erskine has soon departed from his labours: he was an intelligent Minister, of Afro-American extraction."
 
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