The Act Of Lynching, By George Orwell

Humans are sinful by nature, but at what point does the Lord tolerate inconceivable sin? When does He look down and say, “Enough is enough?” Investigating the act of lynching, makes one truly wonder about the evils of mankind. This monstrosity occurred in America, and in the South alone, ferociously ended the lives of nearly 4,000 individuals (Robertson). Although baffling, this disturbing incident is a major part of our history. Our educated ancestors took part in these crimes that plagued our land for many years for the specific reasons of lack of law enforcement, influence of previous generations, and unimaginable fear.

As defined by encyclopedia.com, lynching is “violent punishment or execution, without due process, for real or alleged crimes” (Lynching). Although this is somewhat vague, it is quite accurate. Basically, the illegal act of intentional harm, usually performed in front of a vigilante audience, falls into this definition. It is commonly believed that the word “lynching” or “lynch law” was derived from the name of Charles Lynch (Simkin). This Virginian landowner consistently practiced illegal “trials” of local lawbreakers in his very own front yard. Once found guilty, not exactly a difficult finding, Lynch would then proceed to heartlessly whip and beat the accused (Simkin). Thus, “lynching” was born, and not explicitly to colored folks alone.

When in times of trouble, we look to the law as guidance, and as Christians, we look to the Bible as well. God gave us commandments so that we can easily distinguish right from wrong, and to act as our concrete “law,” so to speak. What would happen if the law didn’t matter or that authority was corrupt? This is exactly the horror that occurred. Authority definitely looke...

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...to achieve the goal of control by fear.

What is done is done and cannot be undone. The significance of this statement stops a sinner in their tracks, and hopefully can help all races of Americans today come to the realization that we are all equal. Yes, lynching has occurred. Although this is devastating we cannot change the past. The impact from previous generations opinionated beliefs based off the color of skin, the lack of integrity of the law, and fear are all blatant, yet shocking, reasons that allowed this tragedy to take place in our nation. With any luck our generation will see clearly in James Thurber’s statement, “Let us not look back in anger, nor forward in fear, but around in awareness.” The subject of history isn’t taught in schools simply for entertainment, but with the desire that we can learn from our mistakes, and make the world a better place.