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On the Courthouse Lawn
Confronting the Legacy of
Lynching in the Twentieth-First Century
By Sherrilyn A. Hill
Reviews
Nearly 5,000 black Americans were lynched between 1890
and 1960, and as Sherrilyn Ifill argues, the effects of
this racial trauma continue to resound. While the
lynchings were devastating, the little-known
contemporary consequences, such as the marginalization
of political and economic development for blacks, are
equally pernicious. Ifill traces the lingering effects
of two lynchings in Maryland to illustrate how
ubiquitous this history is, and issues a clarion call
for the many American communities with histories of
racial violence to be proactive in facing this legacy.
Inspired by South Africa"s Truth and Reconciliation
Commission and techniques of restorative justice, Ifill
provides concrete ideas for communities, including
placing gravestones on the unmarked burial sites of
lynching victims, issuing public apologies, establishing
mandatory school programs on the local history of
lynching, financially compensating those whose family
homes or businesses were destroyed in the aftermath of
lynching, and creating commemorative public spaces. A
landmark book, On the Courthouse Lawn is a much-needed
roadmap to help communities finally confront lynching"s
long shadow by embracing pragmatic reconciliation and
reparation efforts.—Jacket Cover
In calm, objective, but no less moving detail, Ifill"s
book provides the stories that illuminate the
photographs and postcards of lynchings.—Derek Bell,
author of Faces at the Bottom of the Well
On the
Courthouse Lawn is an elegantly written and persuasively
argued case for local communities to confront their
history of lynching and racial violence as a means of
healing race relations.—Mary Frances
Berry, Geraldine R. Segal Professor of American Social
Thought and Professor of History, University of
Pennsylvania
Professor Ifill has written a sobering and eye opening
book on one of America's darkest secrets. On the
Courthouse Lawn offers a compelling examination of
lynchings, and describes the failure of people and
institutions to adequately address one of America's
tragedies. Racial amnesia would suggest we forget this
history. Professor Ifill assures us that we can't— and
should not—forget it. This is a must read for anyone
willing to examine our history carefully and learn from
it."
—Professor Charles J. Ogletree, Jr., Executive Director
of the Charles Hamilton Houston Institute for Race and
Justice
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Contents
| Introduction |
IX |
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| Part I |
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| A SEASON OF MADNESS: TWENTIETH-CENTURY
LYNCHING ON THE EASTERN SHORE |
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| Chapter 1 |
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| A CONVERSATION ON RACE: LYNCHING AND THE
COURTHOUSE LAWN |
3 |
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| Chapter 2 |
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| MOB RULE ON THE SHORE, 1931-1933 |
24 |
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| Chapter 3 |
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| A CONSPIRACY OF SILENCE: ORDINARY PEOPLE
AND COMPLICITY IN LYNCHING |
57 |
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| Chapter 4 |
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| "THE LAW IN ALL ITS MAJESTY |
74 |
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| Chapter 5 |
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| "SERVING THE PENINSULA": LOCAL
NEWSPAPERS AND LYNCHING |
105 |
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| Part 2 |
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| TRUTH AND RECONCILIATION FOR LYNCHING IN
THE TWENTIETH-FIRST CENTURY |
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| Chapter 6 |
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| RECONCILIATION AND LYNCHING IN
INTERNATIONAL CONTEXT |
117 |
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| Chapter 7 |
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| BREAKING THE SILENCE: "WORDS ARE THE
MOST POWERFUL TOOLS OF ALL" |
132 |
| |
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| Chapter 8 |
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| CONFRONTING THE ROLE OF INSTITUTIONS IN
RACIAL/ETHNIC VIOLENCE |
154 |
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| Chapter 9 |
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| RECONCILIATION IN THE TWENTY-FIRST
CENTURY |
173 |
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| Acknowledgements |
177 |
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| Notes |
179 |
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| Index |
192 |
Source:
Sherrilyn A. Hill.
On the Courthouse Lawn: Confronting the Legacy of
Lynching in the Twentieth-First Century. Boston:
Beacon Press, 2007.
Sherrilyn Ifill,
Associate Professor of Law (BA, 1984, Vassar College;
JD, 1987, New York University), is a civil rights lawyer
and professor of law at the University of Maryland
School of Law in Baltimore. Professor Ifill is
nationally recognized as an advocate in the areas of
civil rights, voting rights, judicial diversity and
judicial decision-making. She teaches Civil Procedure
and a seminar on Reparations, Reconstruction and
Resolution of Justice. Professor has also taught
Constitutional Law, Environmental Justice, Complex
Litigation, as well as seminars on Voting Rights, Equal
Protection, and Judicial Decision-making.
Professor Ifill
co-founded with Professor Michael Pinard the Reentry of
Ex-Offenders Clinic. She writes about judicial diversity
and decision-making, as well as racial violence and
reconciliation efforts. Her articles about judicial
diversity and impartiality have led to Professor Ifill’s
recognition as an expert on these subjects.—UMD
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Sister Citizen: Shame, Stereotypes, and Black Women in
America
By Melissa V.
Harris-Perry
According to the
author, this society has historically exerted
considerable pressure on black females to fit into one
of a handful of stereotypes, primarily, the Mammy, the
Matriarch or the Jezebel. The selfless
Mammy’s behavior is marked by a slavish devotion to
white folks’ domestic concerns, often at the expense of
those of her own family’s needs. By contrast, the
relatively-hedonistic Jezebel is a sexually-insatiable
temptress. And the Matriarch is generally thought of as
an emasculating figure who denigrates black men, ala the
characters Sapphire and Aunt Esther on the television
shows Amos and Andy and Sanford and Son, respectively.
Professor Perry
points out how the propagation of these harmful myths
have served the mainstream culture well. For instance,
the Mammy suggests that it is almost second nature for
black females to feel a maternal instinct towards
Caucasian babies.
As for the source
of the Jezebel, black women had no control over their
own bodies during slavery given that they were being
auctioned off and bred to maximize profits. Nonetheless,
it was in the interest of plantation owners to propagate
the lie that sisters were sluts inclined to mate
indiscriminately.
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Sex at the Margins
Migration, Labour Markets and the Rescue Industry
By Laura María Agustín
This book explodes several myths: that selling sex is completely different from any other kind of work, that migrants who sell sex are passive victims and that the multitude of people out to save them are without self-interest. Laura Agustín makes a passionate case against these stereotypes, arguing that the label 'trafficked' does not accurately describe migrants' lives and that the 'rescue industry' serves to disempower them. Based on extensive research amongst both migrants who sell sex and social helpers, Sex at the Margins provides a radically different analysis. Frequently, says Agustin, migrants make rational choices to travel and work in the sex industry, and although they are treated like a marginalised group they form part of the dynamic global economy. Both powerful and controversial, this book is essential reading for all those who want to understand the increasingly important relationship between sex markets, migration and the desire for social justice. "Sex at the Margins rips apart distinctions between migrants, service work and sexual labour and reveals the utter complexity of the contemporary sex industry. This book is set to be a trailblazer in the study of sexuality."—Lisa Adkins, University of London |
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The White Masters of the
World
From
The World and Africa, 1965
By W. E. B. Du Bois
W. E. B. Du Bois’
Arraignment and Indictment of White Civilization
(Fletcher)
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Ancient African Nations
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Enjoy!
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The Death of Emmett Till by Bob Dylan
/
The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll
/
Only a Pawn in Their Game
Rev. Jesse Lee Peterson Thanks America for
Slavery /
George Jackson /
Hurricane Carter
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The Journal of Negro History issues at Project Gutenberg
The
Haitian Declaration of Independence 1804
/
January 1, 1804 -- The Founding of
Haiti
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posted 2 February 2007
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