Lynching Of James Byrd Jr example essay topic

Discrimination against African Americans is and has always been a major problem with society. Many lives have been ruined and lost. It is horrible to think that someone could kill another person based on the color of one's skin, but that is what happened almost every day after the Civil War ended in 1865 and slaves were freed. Lynching became a common practice among white people. Lynching means any type of illegal torture or murder, usually by a mob, against an accused person or persons (Zangrando 1). It became very popular for white people to take the law into their own hands and execute an African American.

There were a great deal of lynching acts in the past that show the horrifying times that African Americans had to live through. African Americans today are still affected by lynching and other acts of discrimination. Lynching was and still is very disturbing and horrifies most African Americans today. In a short poem "Lesson", Forrest Hamer, tells of a trip taken with his mother and father as a child during the mid 1900's. Hamer recalls that they had "been hearing about Klan attacks, and we knew Mississippi to be more dangerous that usual" (Hamer 641). The Ku Klux Klan was the largest supremacy group which consisted of whites.

The Klan would terrorize many racial groups, including African Americans. They would commit acts of lynching all the time (Ku Klux Klan 1-2). In another stanza of the poem Hamer talks about pulling off to the side of the road to sleep and being scared of the noises (641). In my opinion, Hamer was afraid of being on the side of a Mississippi road at night when he knew that this was a place that many Klan attacks had occurred. Hamer wrote this poem in 1996. It is evident he remembers and fears living through a time when lynching happened frequently.

Many African Americans remember some of the most appalling accounts of lynching. In another poem, "Afterimages", written by Audre Lorde, the lynching of a fifteen-year-old African American boy named Emmett Till is remembered. Lorde tells of "a black boy hacked into a murderous lesson - recalled in me forever [... ] etched into my visions" (1179). Lorde is very disturbed by Emmett's execution. It also should be noted that the two men who were tried for Emmett's murder were found innocent (1179). Emmett Till was killed in 1955.

Lorde wrote the poem in 1981. It is obvious from Lorde's speaker's trauma that lynching occurrences from the past have had a major effect on contemporary African Americans. In America today, lynching is still taking place. It is just outrageous that people still discriminate against other people because of their race, ethnicity, or even social status. Keep in mind that lynching can discriminate against any race, ethnicity, or social status. On June 7, 1998, in Jasper, Texas, three white men lynched a forty-nine-year-old African American man.

His name was James Byrd Jr. Byrd was beaten and then chained to the back of a truck and pulled for two and a half miles and finally died (McLaughlin 1). It is an unbelievable and sickening thought that this repulsive incident happened only five years ago. The lynching of Byrd is an example of the effects that the past has played in today's society. This incident shows that an African American or anyone of a different ethnicity, race, or social stature will be scared that lynching can and may still happen today. Another reason that discrimination has continued to affect our society is the fact that white supremacy groups still exist today.

Two of the men who murdered James Byrd Jr. had associations with the Ku Klux Klan and Aryan Nation (Frye 4 & 5). The Ku Klux Klan, as mentioned before, was more dominant in the earlier 1900's, but it still exists today. The Aryan Nation is another white supremacist group. They are against Jews ("Aryan Nation" 1). As long as these supremacist groups exist, lynching acts may always occur. It is possible that this may be a logical leap, but the lynching of James Byrd Jr. is evidence that it can still happen today.

Lynching in some way or another has affected all African Americans. Some, such as Audre Lorde, more than others. James Byrd Jr. was greatly affected by lynching. It's a very sad, but true thing that happened to him. Three racist men took the life of an innocent man because they could not deal with the fact that he was African American. The supremacist groups that these men were involved in played a major role in their decisions.

The fact that supremacist groups are still around today shows how big an impact the past has played in today's society. The stories of lynching in the past, such as Emmett Till's, have had a major impact on present day African Americans, such as Audre Lorde and the lynching of James Byrd Jr. will have an influence on future African Americans. Lynching is sadly a part of history. History will always be remembered or rediscovered and always have an impact on someone's life, whether they " re aware of the history or not. It is like a chain that will never end.

Bibliography

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Frye, Cathy. "Evidence Doesn't Tell Why". The Enterprise. 12 Jun. 1998.
Hamer, Forrest. "Lesson". Making Literature Matter: An Anthology for Readers and Writers. 2nd ed. Ed. John Schilb and John Clifford. Boston: Bedford / St. Martin's, 2003.
641. "Ku Klux Klan". Wikipedia. 28 Oct. 2003.
Bomis Inc. 5 Nov. 2003.
Lorde, Audre. "After mages". 2nd ed. Ed. Boston: Bedford / St. Martin's, 2003.
1179-1182. McLaughlin, Martin. "Racial Violence and the Social Forces in America that Fuel It". World Socialist Web Site. 13 Jun. 1998.
International Committee of the Fourth International. 5 Nov. 2003.
Zangrando, Robert L. "About Lynching". Modern American Poetry. 20 Oct. 2003.