
How to survive a lynching - eric_h
https://www.buzzfeed.com/syreetamcfadden/how-to-survive-a-lynching
======
justifier
.. confused by the title?

> Yet, just as Cameron prepared for the end, someone spoke up. In Cameron’s
> retelling, a voice “rose above the deafening roar of the mob,” speaking
> “sharp and crisp, like bells ringing out on a clear, cold winter day.” The
> voice — “feminine” and “sweet” — delivered a simple instruction: “Take this
> boy back. He had nothing to do with any raping or killing.”

i think it should be 'how to stop a lynching: speak out against hate'

~~~
brightball
Seems like that should read 'speak up for the innocent'.

I only say that because the word 'hate' gets thrown around a lot where it's
neither accurate nor appropriate. Hate is an obsession level feeling that
consumes a person. When people throw around the word, they lessen its meaning
which causes people to dismiss it (and the person using it) when they hear it.

Certainly, in the case of a lynching, using the word would be more appropriate
so don't take my comment as direct at you in particular but more at just the
overall internet's use of the word.

~~~
jacquesm
This is so wrong. See, it did not matter whether or not the person was
innocent. What mattered was that you don't take the law into your own hands.

And that person did speak up, but only after two people were already killed
without any form of due process.

~~~
brightball
According to the story it mattered that somebody stood up and DECLARED his
innocence. If the mob was just up for killing black people (aka - hate) there
would be no reason for that to stop them. The mob was out for what they
perceived as some deranged form of justice.

It's totally indefensible on all counts regardless. My comment was only around
the use of the word "hate".

~~~
jessedhillon
I see no reason why hate is not an appropriate term for that animating force
which is compelling a mob towards vigilante action against a perceived
wrongdoer -- a perception certainly rooted in racial bias. In order to get to
the point where a lynching is possible, a person who cares about justice, law,
order etc must convince themselves of the victim's guilt beyond all doubt. If
the victim is already nearly subhuman to you, it's much easier to convince
yourself that there's no moral risk in making the wrong judgment.

Just think about it from your own perspective: how certain would you have to
be of someone else's guilt before you would feel comfortable attending their
impromptu execution? If some neighbor came to you and said "we're gonna kill
this guy, I heard he raped someone," you certainly would pass on that, if not
stand up against it.

If we take away the hatred, what you appear to be saying here is that
lynchings are well-meaning attempts at justice, which are inappropriately
realized. This is silly, at least, to anyone familiar with the history of
lynchings.

------
jacquesm
If not for that one lady speaking up the story would have ended quite
differently. Mobs are _very_ scary. Still, if not for recognizing his customer
he'd have gone through with the robbery and he did give the gun back to the
murderers.

Strange how the claim of 'rape' apparently is what set off the crowd to lynch,
but the murder apparently was not nearly seen as being as heavy.

Surreal how there are people smiling in that photograph with the corpses
hanging.

~~~
brighteyes
> Strange how the claim of 'rape' apparently is what set off the crowd to
> lynch, but the murder apparently was not nearly seen as being as heavy.

It's not that strange - people in the US are much less tolerant of sexual
violence than other forms. Rape is just more abhorred than murder.

Consider how there is a sex offender registry, but not a registry for those
committing attempted murder or assault.

Also note how shows like Game of Thrones have 100x more murders than rapes,
but the rapes invariably cause a public outcry. The murders on the other hand
are just business as usual.

Not just in the US, either. Accusations of rape are a major factor in the
migrant crisis in Europe, after the apparent mass sexual assaults on New
Year's Eve and other instances.

~~~
alphonsegaston
"Rape is just more abhorred than murder."

I fail to see how this is true, unless you're only speaking about cultural
depictions. The incidence of rape is double that of murder in the US.

[http://www.bjs.gov/index.cfm?ty=tp&tid=311](http://www.bjs.gov/index.cfm?ty=tp&tid=311)

[http://www.bjs.gov/index.cfm?ty=pbdetail&iid=5366](http://www.bjs.gov/index.cfm?ty=pbdetail&iid=5366)

------
nathantotten
I often wonder what happens to the people in these types of photographs. Who
are all these onlookers? Somebody must recognize them as their mother/father
or grandmother/grandfather. Do they regret what they did or do they just
remember it as something that happened "back then"?

------
brightball
It's in hearing stories like this that we should better understand how brave
men like this really were: [http://chronicle.augusta.com/news/crime-
courts/2013-08-17/10...](http://chronicle.augusta.com/news/crime-
courts/2013-08-17/100-years-ago-sc-sheriff-stared-down-1000-man-mob-save-
black-inmate)

------
hackuser
The modern lynching is online. It very rarely results in murder, but it's the
same behavior and motivation IMHO and it ruins lives.

~~~
kkarakk
you just need to read up on stories like the donglegate fiasco to show just
how badly an online lynching can be for everyone involved.

------
Steeeve
It's scary how close we are as a society to this kind of a thing.

------
therationalist
What should be a crime is conflating mob justice with racism.

------
aaron695
So at best, assuming he was telling the full truth, he was part of a group who
murdered someone in an attempt to rob them. He even had the gun.

Exactly how was he pardoned?

------
jkot
Physical lynching is relatively common in India. And online lynch mob is
responsible for a few suicides in western countries as well.

~~~
EnFinlay
I would say that "online lynch mob" is not possible. There's a big difference
between being consistently and doggedly harassed, and being physically
murdered by a vicious mob.

~~~
seangrant
By term "physical lynching" doesn't make sense. The act of lynching is
physical in and of itself.

~~~
dragonwriter
Its redundant, but that doesn't mean it doesn't make sense.

~~~
toxik
Right, it's redundant. Like this comment.

