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Mary Turner Lynching Essay

1060 Words5 Pages

Margot Edwards
History and Laws of Lynching
Lynching is a hideous act committed by white people to violently impose their power towards Black people. Innocent people were burned, beaten, hung, and tortured for the color of their skin. Such a disgusting act was committed among families and citizens who gladly marveled at the sight before them. People watched and attended what they thought was a "wholesome celebration" (Lartey & Morris 14). Between 1881 and 1968 there was a recorded 4,743 people murdered in a lynching (Lartey & Morris 9). Lynchers were not punished for many decades and lived a free life despite their cruel and inhumane actions. From the deaths of Mary Turner to Emmett Till to George Floyd, lynchings have been a dark part …show more content…

"Turner's death prompted NAACP officials to ask Missouri Congressman Leonidas Dyer to craft the 1922 Dyer Anti-Lynching Bill" (May 19, 1918: Mary Turner Lynching 3), a cornerstone to the anti-lynching movement. Nearing the end of the era of lynching, came the 1955 murder of a black fourteen-year-old boy, Emmet Till (The Murder of Emmett Till 1). Till was accused of whistling at a white woman (Carolyn Bryant) who told her husband, Roy Bryant, and brother-in-law, J.W. Milam (The Murder of Emmett Till 1). While at his relative's house, Till was kidnapped and murdered by these men, beginning a major event and change in the civil rights movement (The Murder of Emmett Till 1). The murders who lynched Till were acquitted and not punished for their crimes (Death Penalty Information Center 5), which made many people angry and upset. At the funeral, Till's mother decided to have an open casket funeral to show the reality of lynching and the brutality was inflicted upon her son (Death Penalty Information Center …show more content…

The Dyer Anti-Lynching Bill states that, "… assure to persons within the jurisdiction of every State the equal protection of the laws, and to punish the crime of lynching" (Dyer Anti Lynching Bill 3). This bill ensured that citizens were protected and lynchers were punished, which is a key part to lynching history in The United States because people who committed the crime of lynching were not punished for their crimes prior to 1922, when the bill itself was legally

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