Above, a mass of white Texans watch as a black man named Henry Smith is hanged. Smith was accused of killing a white girl named Myrtle Vance.
In a report published Tuesday, the Montgomery, Alabama based nonprofit Equal Justice Initiative (EJI) spent five years researching newspaper articles, historical archives, and court records on the lynching of African Americans in the Jim Crow-era South.
The new report found that white mobs murdered a total of 3,959 black persons in 12 southern states between 1877 and 1950, which is a shocking 700 more than previously reported.
A push for the construction of war memorial-style effigies in the communities where these race crimes were committed, are the next steps in finding closure to such horrific acts which EJI Director Bryan Stevenson, admits that building such memorials will most surely be met with aggressive resistance in the South, where many still hang their Confederate flags high and proud.
"We want to change the visual landscape of this country so that when people move through these communities and live in these communities, that they’re mindful of this history," Stevenson told The Guardian. "We don’t think you should be able to come to these places without facing their histories."
Revealed in the report are the Southern counties where lynchings happened the most; Florida was where the rate of lynchings was the highest, but Georgia had the most overall lynchings at 586. Constant attacks such as these is what eventually led many African Americans on a great migration to the North -- seeking a more tolerant society and a better way of life.
On a side note: This is reminiscent to modern-day lynchings of black males and females, by the hands of corrupt police officers and civilians.
Worst Southern States And Counties For Lynchings, 1877-1950
By state:
1. Georgia - 586
2. Mississippi - 576
3. Louisiana - 540
4. Arkansas - 503
5. Florida - 331
6. Texas - 376
7. Alabama - 326
8. Tennessee - 225
9. South Carolina - 164
10. Kentucky - 154
11. North Carolina - 102
12. Virginia - 76
By county:
1. Phillips, Arkansas - 243
2. Caddo, Louisiana - 54
3. Lafourche, Louisiana - 50
4. Tensas, Louisiana - 40
5. Ouachita, Louisiana - 35
6. Orange, Florida - 34
7. Bossier, Louisiana - 32
8. Marion, Florida - 30
9. Jefferson, Alabama - 29
10. Dallas, Alabama - 25
11. Early, Georgia - 24
12. Iberia, Louisiana - 23
Lynching rates by State, 1880-1940
Florida - 0.594
Mississippi - 0.556
Arkansas - 0.545
Louisiana - 0.475
Georgia - 0.378
Alabama - 0.256
South Carolina - 0.180
Tennessee - 0.165
Texas - 0.154
Kentucky - 0.111
Virginia - 0.072
North Carolina - 0.068
(Lynching rate calculated per 100,000 residents)
2015 LA
