CW Political and Social Thought

The Lynching of Mary Turner in My Hometown in 1918

"Her body was cut open and her infant fell to the ground with a little cry, to be crushed to death by the heel of one of the white men present."  - On the lynching of Mary Turner

For the last year or so, I have been researching my family's history in Virginia and southern Georgia. For the most part, this journey has been very rewarding, finding a newspaper article on my great, great, great grandfather who was born into slavery in the 1850s, discovering an extended relative who was one of the first Black principals in Central Virginia, and uncovering Native American ancestors. Unfortunately, I have also confronted the brutality and racism that defined the world in which they lived. Such was the case in Valdosta, GA in 1918.

Lynching has a long and a very depressing history, the history of which I can't even begin to describe in this entry. What I can say, however, is that experts have approximated that the number of African Americans who were lynched between the 1890s and 1930s averaged 103 per year and were often perpetuated by lynch mobs. As early as 1880, Brooks County, a county formed in 1858 from a portion of Valdosta, had developed a reputation for racial violence.

Brooks County, named after South Carolina congressman Preston Brooks, established a reputation second to none in Georgia for race violence. During the era of lynching, 1880-1930, the county established a ...reputation for mob violence on an unprecedented scale; there were at least twenty-four confirmed victims of lynchings. In December 1894, a mob lynched five men in a single incident. Lynchings were carried out on a regular basis, with mobs taking lives in August 1898, January 1901, July 1909, June 1911, March 1913, November 1917, and May 1918. There were more lynchings in Brooks than any county in Georgia; Fitzhugh Brundage has suggested that the county was the most mob-prone county in the entire South.( n10) It should come as no surprise, then, that the single lynching incident that claimed the most number of lives in Georgia, in May 1918, occurred in that county. ("Killing Them by the Wholesale" by Christopher Meyers)

It was in this historical context that Mary Turner, eight-months pregnant, became one of the most gruesome cases of lynching, racism and lawlessness in the United States. Responding to her husband's lynching, which supposedly involved his complicity with the murder of a white man, papers reported that Turner's statement about her husband's lynching being "unjust" "only inflamed" the white mob which had already claimed eight Black lives. Descriptions of Mary Turner's lynching are some of the hardest writings to stomach.

"The mob tied her ankles together and hung her to a tree head down and gasoline from automobiles was poured over her. Turner's clothing was burned off of her body. A member of the mob produced a sharp knife and her stomach was laid open; her unborn child fell to the ground. Hundreds of bullets were then fired into Turner until she was barely recognizable as a human being. Both Turner and her child were buried about ten feet from the tree, the grave marked by a whiskey bottle with a cigar placed in the neck." (Meyers)

"Mary Turner was pregnant and was hung by her feet. Gasoline was thrown on her clothing and it was set on fire. Her body was cut open and her infant fell to the ground with a little cry, to be crushed to death by the heel of one of the white men present. The mother's body was then riddled with bullets." [1]

The white residents of Valdosta, Georgia decided to teach her a lesson for being uppity enough to be vocal about her pain. A mob found her tied her upside down to a tree, doused her with gasoline and burned her alive. One of the crowd members took a knife and split her belly open letting the baby fall out. Another member of the crowd smashed the baby’s head with his foot. Then the crowd took out their guns and filled the burning body of Mary Turner with bullets. The Associated Press wrote that Mary Turner had made unwise remarks about the execution of her husband. [2]

"...a man stepped forward with a pocketknife and ripped open her abdomen in a crude Caesarean operation. 'Out tumbled the prematurely born child,'" White wrote. "'Two feeble cries it gave - and received for the answer the heel of a stalwart man, as life was ground out of the tiny form. [3]

Gladly, Valdosta has come a long way from Mary Turner, but unfortunately, two recent story coming out of Valdosta show me how far Valdosta still has to go.

Valdosta Court Refuses to Admit Muslim Woman for "Security Reasons"

The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) today criticized officials in the Valdosta, Georgia, municipal court for denying a Muslim woman entrance to the courtroom because she refused to remove her head scarf. 20-year-old Aniisa Karim had come to court to challenge a speeding ticket, but was denied entry on the basis of security concerns, security guards told her....Read More

White Students Hang Black Doll From Tree

Three white students painted a doll black and hanged it from a schoolyard tree, prompting calls from parents and the local NAACP that the FBI should investigate the act as a hate crime....Read More

A Historical Moment in Time With the Late Oliver Hill: By One Virginian About Another

The year was 1959. The Supreme Court had rendered a verdict in Brown v Board of Education just  five years earlier calling for desegregation, which prompted one of the most vicious and racist campaigns to ever hit the public airwaves. On February 24, 1956, Virginia Senator Harry Byrd Sr. declared, and with which the Virginia General Assembly legislatively complied, that "Massive Resistance" was the policy through which Virginia would challenge integration. Through laws that stripped funding from integrated schools like Warren County High School and Lane High School, which was in my own city of Charlottesville, by granting tuition to students who chose to attend private schools, and by closing down school systems that did not comply, Virginia led the way in a final attempt to use states' rights as a way of subjugating the African American population, at least when it concerned equal education.

Then on January 19, 1959, the Virginia Supreme Court effectively ended Massive Resistance by ruling in Harrison v Day,106 S.E.2d 636 (Va. 1959)  that such laws and actions by the state were unconstitutional. After Governor Almond publicly condemned the decision on WXEX in Richmond (Audio), the Virginia branches of the NAACP and Oliver Hill, as their leading attorney, fought back. Oliver Hill would address the same WXEX audience, but his message appealed to the grandest of all American values. [1]

Faced with this history and these facts, there was no other logical or just conclusion that the United States Supreme Court could reach other than to hold racial segregation in public schools unconstitutional. The Constitution does not guarantee any right to any racial solidarity or to the protection or preservation of any race. Its guarantees go to the right of the individual to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. It is impossible for me to conceive how any objective observer can logically contend that the action of the Supreme Court violated any right of the state. The contention that the fact that the Court had once passed on the question and was thereafter foreclosed from correcting a demonstrated error is as illogical as would be the contention of a motorist who, when charged with driving down the highway in a careless and reckless manner at ninety miles an hour, declared that the officers arresting him were out of order because peace officers had been observing him driving in this manner for the past quarter of a century and none of them had so charged him before. The contention is made that racial segregation in public schools must be maintained in order to preserve a way of life to which Virginians have been accustomed. I certainly make no pretense that the elimination of radial segregation will not change the way of life in many Virginia communities - -[2]

Hill's legal reasoning takes away any states' rights argument out of segregationists' hands because, as he rightly saw it, constitutional principles always trumped state "tradition" or "way of life". Interestingly, Hill does not end his analysis there. He believes that any attempt to deprive African Americans of equal status jeopardizes the equality of Whites as well, especially in terms of opposing Massive Resistance.

But I can point out to you hundreds of individual instances in Virginia wherein the totalitarian concept of racial segregation not only deprives the Negro of his constitutional rights, but similarly deprives the white persons their rights. One clear •cut illustration commonly known is the denial to white people who oppose massive resistance of their right to freedom of expression because of their fear of social, economical or political reprisals. There are even rumors of reprisals against the Justices of the Supreme Court Appeals of Virginia for exercising their honest judgment and declaring the massive resistance laws unconstitutional

He contended that this fight was less about how Blacks needed rights and more about how the United States and more specifically White America needed to find its soul.

The only severance in the lines of communication exists at the end resting among the white people and can easily be reunited once the white people of this state decide to work constructively upon the problems, real and fancied, incident to the elimination of racial segregation. The question is not whether you believe in racial segregation, for racial segregation is crumbling -- not merely because the Negro wants it eliminated, but because it is incompatible with the fundamental concept of the right of the individual to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. The only question, my friends, is whether you will continue to follow the false doctrine of evasion, resistance and defiance of the law and the principles of American democracy and suffer the change from segregation to desegregation amid the turmoil and tension of another lost cause, or whether you will repudiate the actions of your politicians and work cooperatively to bring the transition to pass with a minimum of emotional impact.

With this, the fight for equality was not over, though Massive Resistance did end. Oliver Hill, who already reached celebrity as the attorney for the Prince Edward County case which was subsumed into Brown, went on to become the first Black member of the Richmond City Council in 50 years, a partner of Hill, Tucker and Marsh , honoree of the Spingarn Award, recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom, confidante of many political leaders, and one of the greatest American legal minds to ever live. [3] [4]  [5]

Oliver Hill (1907-2007)

 

Image Credit : http://www.medaloffreedom.com/OliverWhiteHill.htm

http://www.brownat50.org/images/BrownCCF03Lecture/CCFOliverHill&.JPG

http://www.vahistorical.org/sva2003/owh.htm

 

A Strange Tale of Nooses, Sit-ins, and Murder

I heard about this story sometime ago, but it seems to be gaining some momentum in the major news media, so I think it would be appropriate to cover it here to do my part to bring much needed attention to this story.

I am not going to pretend that I know all the details of this story, but the facts seem to go like this. A group of six Black students sat under a "whites-only" tree at their high school. The white students retaliated by hanging nooses from the tree. In turn, the Black students staged a sit-in, whereupon the District Attorney, accompanied by the police, issued this threat, "With one stroke of my pen, I can make your life disappear." [1] Despite this, the school had an outstanding football season, some say that the Black athletes were the reason, nevertheless once the season was over, the academic building of the school was burned down. Each group is blaming the other.

Here is how NPR continues the story...[2]

"The next night, 16-year-old Robert Bailey and a few black friends tried to enter a party attended mostly by whites. When Bailey got inside, he was attacked and beaten. The next day, tensions escalated at a local convenience store. Bailey exchanged words with a white student who had been at the party. The white boy ran back to his truck and pulled out a pistol grip shotgun. Bailey ran after him and wrestled him for the gun.

                        

After some scuffling, Bailey and his friends took the gun away and brought it home. Bailey was eventually charged with theft of a firearm, second-degree robbery and disturbing the peace. The white student who pulled the weapon was not charged at all.

                        

The following Monday, Dec.4, a white student named Justin Barker was loudly bragging to friends in the school hallway that Robert Bailey had been whipped by a white man on Friday night. When Barker walked into the courtyard, he was attacked by a group of black students. The first punch knocked Barker out and he was kicked several times in the head. But the injuries turned out to be superficial. Barker was examined by doctors and released; he went out to a social function later that evening.

                        

Six black students were arrested and charged with aggravated assault. But District Attorney Reed Walters increased the charges to attempted second-degree murder. That provoked a storm of black outrage."

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A Strange Encounter with Julian Bond

I had a very strange experience with Julian Bond today. He was washing his hands at the sink when I entered the bathroom. This is all happening at the University of Virginia where he teaches part-time. I was really taken aback. One minute I was thinking about which stall to use and the next I was standing before this Civil Rights giant. In a shaky and high-pitched voice I say, “Hi Professor Bond!” The girly squeal that made its way out of my mouth was unquestionably embarrassing. Nevertheless, I was expecting Professor Bond to appreciate the apparent enthusiasm by reciprocating my energy. Instead, he automates a “Hi. How are you.” All the while, he never makes eye contact with me and his tone is as dry as the Sahara. It was like I pulled a string on his back and was given the same redundant and impersonal greeting that every other eager fan has gotten. He didn't turn around. I'm sure he guessed that wasn't necessary. Was it me? Was he disappointed that I didn’t take his class this semester? I took part of his Civil Rights class last semester, but I had to end up dropping it because my T.A. was the biggest bitch in the world. She was the arrogant “I-am-a-grad-student-hear-me-roar” type. In any case, I could not explain why he seemed so aloof. I just as well could have been one of a million strangers who recognize him. The problem is that I am nobody, at least no one special.

 

As it turns out, none of my explanations are particularly important. The problem is that we common folk often expect too much of our celebrities, like they are somehow not human like us. In my case, because this celebrity is African American and is well known as a civil rights leader, I wanted to be treated as if I were his biggest fan, best friend, and mother put into one. It reminds me of an incident that Oprah had with a fan. Oprah had made an unexpected trip to a department store. When everyone got wind that Oprah was in the building, of course, they all lined up to see OPRAH grace their presence! Well, Oprah was not havin’ it. She needed to rush in the store and pick up a gift really quickly because she had a wedding to attend. One fan called her a bitch as she walked by because Oprah didn’t bother to greet her fans. One could say that Oprah was being a bitch, but there is also another way to look at it. If it was you, would you not want to go in a store and come out without people parading around you and bowing at your feet?

I guess that I shouldn’t be like that fan. At least Julian Bond did say something.

 

Black Identity, In Progress

Ok, so it’s obvious that my African American identity means a lot to me. It has never meant so much to until college. For a long time I thought that it was because of the hostile environment here at UVa against students of color, but I have realized that it was not primarily that. I believe that I have developed my African American identity because I have entered an environment where I have never been around so many people that were so unlike me. That does mean more whites, but that also means more other kinds of people. For a Black person (of my type), it becomes extremely difficult to fit in. Since there is such a large population here, social interactions among members of groups become more important. For a person like me who is very individualistic and independent, the dynamics of a large school become overwhelming. If you are not a part of some organization, then you’re socially isolated. I attempted to do several organizations where I could exercise my independence and demonstrate my talent, but none of them work out. Several of those attempts failed because people were judging me (or my friends) based on my skin. I tried to write for the school paper, but that just ended in failure. I tried to try out for a debating society, but that was a failure. I wanted something intellectual and creative. For a Black student on Grounds that is hard to come by. So I have resorted to working on my African American identity, which is my own little intellectual and creative project. I have realized many things. I guess these pillars would sum up the basis of my work.

BASIC ASSUMPTIONS AS A RESULT OF MY IDENTITY CRISIS

1) Black students are offered a white-slice-bread version of Black history. It lacks the wholesome content of a proper nutrition fit the Black soul. The nutrients that it does have are artificial and hardly feed us, as our minds have become numb and ignorant from the onset of starvation.

 

2) We, who have been put on the floor to be walk upon, cannot simply wish our condition to change. We must take proactive measures to reassert our peoplehood and reclaim our destiny. And when we live to tell the story, we are not to refer to ourselves as former rugs, former mats, former carpets, or any other name. My great-great-great was no carpet! We are the proud Black Bodies and Minds that Change North America and the World! 

3) Above all, an intellectual strand common and embraced by all Blacks. Not just one that says “We Have Overcome, Now Let Us Go to Church!” but one that says “The Fruit of Our Past is Bountiful,
but the Harvest of Tomorrow Will Last Us Forever!” We can’t get an intellectual movement aside from religion because Black folk don’t have enough unity. They barely have enough unity in the various denominations. Partly, it’s because we are broken into so many fragments. Why do we have so many churches! Don’t we see that we can’t get anything done because we don’t know ourselves! We go to churches with as few as 10 people! Why?!

Black Leadership in Action, Julian Bond on Homophobia in the Black Community

Now Julian Bond is a man with integrity! He is the chairman of the NAACP and he is choosing to openly criticize Black Americans for their homophobia, which is to blame for Black people taking their sexual feelings and habits underground into dangerously harmful worlds. The consequences of which put Black women as the highest infected group in terms of new victims and Black urban gay males as the highest concentration of infected victims. He talks about his position in the October issue of The Advocate. Here's part of that interview.

What are you doing to address homophobia among the black population?
I look at the women's movement, the movement of lesbians and gays, the Hispanic movement, the Native American Movement- all these movements say they took their cues from the African-American civil rights movement. But in this case, the African-American movement against AIDS in taking its cues from the gay movement, hoping to adapt some of the militancy, some of the tactics, demonstrations, and protests.

Is it a matter of more black men needing to come out?
I can't help but think that if more closeted gay people would come out of the closet and take claim of who they are and their identity, this situation would be immeasurably eased. At the same time those who are out need to take a more active role in organizations like the NAACP and let members see that they are ordinary people.

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