Lynchings: Back in Black

Golfweek Magazine. Jena, Louisiana. Columbia University. Suddenly, the strange fruit is back.

Although the three instances could not be more different, they are bound by a common theme: the explosive and complex claim that blacks are acting too uppity. Whether it is a golfer dominating a sport he shouldn’t, high schoolers hanging out where they are not supposed to, or a professor writing a book that upsets propriety; each seemingly forgot their place and needed a simple reminder. A stark and symbolic reminder.

What is it about lynching that has suddenly made it such a potent and relevant political metaphor today? After all, uppity blacks have existed throughout our history: W.E.B. Du Bois, Jackie Robinson, Rosa Parks, Martin Luther King Jr., Arthur Ashe. Despite the audacity of one black man in particular, who is running for president, one can hardly say there is a sudden uptick in black self-assertion.

Lynching references have come back for two other reasons, having less to do with race per se than with the with post 9-11 political atmosphere. The first reason has to do with the solidarity that resulted in this new climate of fear. In a talk entitled “The Gifts of Black Folk in the Age of Terrorism,” Cornel West spoke about the ‘niggerization of America,’ which refers to the process in which all Americans after 9-11 have been “taught to be fearful, taught to be afraid, and subject to manipulation.” After 9-11, all Americans began to understand what it meant to be terrorized simply for being who we are. This widespread identity-based fear is ‘niggerization’ because Americans began to get an inkling of what it must have been like to be a black man in the South with the all-pervasive noose hanging under every tree. The terror of 9-11 is similar to the terror of lynching because it does not have to be personally experienced. The effects of lynching extend beyond its immediate victims, conjuring up nightmares by its sheer possibility.

In the immediate aftermath, this terror brought us together. It resurrected civic pride, inspired individuals to put aside their differences, and engage in patriotic self-sacrifice. When the towers collapsed, so did years of racial division, animosity and violence, because something more important, which threatened all equally, bound us together. At least, so it was said.

But now that the embers have cooled and the enemy combatants detained, we can go back to business as usual. Solidarity brought equality, an equality that was hard for some to swallow. Because terror is blind, we became momentarily blinded to each other. But we can close our eyes for only so long. The resurgence of lynching references is a reminder that even if this ‘niggerization of America’ is true, black is still black and white is still white. No matter how new this post 9-11 world might be, it is not enough to dismantle the deep-seated racism in this country. The recent lynching controversies are a reminder that unity in fear could only temporarily displace, rather than truly resolve the problems of a divided society. They signal that things are going back to normal, normally racist that is.

The second reason that lynching has re-emerged in the shadow of 9-11 has to do with how the Bush administration has handled the ‘war on terror.’ Indefinite detention. Unsubstantiated claims of impropriety. Extralegal procedures. Peace and order at the expense of law and justice. The methods the Bush administration is using to fight terrorism are eerily similar to the methods white Southerners used to oppose racial equality. In effect, Bush’s handling of the war on terror has harkened back to and given license to an old tradition of popular justice that is as American as apple pie. Is it of any wonder then why lynchings are back in vogue when the same kind of rationale used to justify lynchings are identical to those the Bush administration has used? We saw this with Andrew Jackson. As President, Andrew Jackson waged a similar ‘war on terror’ against Native-Americans. He was so ‘successful,’ that he is said to have encouraged and inspired many nativists, racists, and industrialists to wage their own ‘war on terror.’ Terror, then, is nothing new. Americans have been practicing it for years. And when our leaders do it, it spreads like wildfire, setting ablaze all sorts of local problems. Just because nobody gave any direct orders does not mean these are a few random acts by bad apples; our government has been giving extralegal justice official sanction for years. Like they say, mockery is the sincerest from of flattery.