The Hi-Tech Lynching of Celebrities and Politicians

The Hi-Tech Lynching of Celebrities and Politicians

Lynching, which occurred most frequently in the southern states, resulted in the hanging, mutilation, and death of many blacks at the hands of a powerful white ruling class. While lynchings of this type have not occurred as frequently as in previous decades, it has morphed into a new form, a form that is arguably just as devastating. Instead of unjustly prosecuting blacks, this new form of lynching targets celebrities and politicians and media to accomplish what is commonly referred to as “hi-tech lynching”. The job of the media is to relay information to a general public.

However, bias towards particular persons and issues as well as the desire to garner the most viewers, often results in deceit and misrepresentation. Over time, the media’s initial purpose and goal, to inform the masses, has been lost. In its place, a technology-based lynch mob has emerged, with the lives of celebrities and politicians at its mercy. An alleged late twentieth-century incident of high-tech lynching involved the case of politician, Clarence Thomas. Thomas, appointed to the Supreme Court by President George Bush in 1991, was at the center of media frenzy when law professor, Anita Hill, accused Thomas of sexual harassment. It was Thomas’s word against Hill and though Thomas was confirmed as an associate Supreme Court justice, the lasting implications of the scandal follow both him and Hill to this day

Hi-tech lynching has even effected the “King of Pop,” Michael Jackson. The “policemen of the electronic age” have been involved in destroying the reputation of Jackson by playing video clips and interviews that mock his personal lifestyle (Koppersmith 1). Various networks feed on ratings, instead of the valued notions of morality. Michael Jackson’s case has become the example of guilty until proven innocent, even though we, as American citizens claim to value due process and equal representation under the law.

Black Panther party member, Assata Shakur, is another instructive example of high-tech lynching. In 1973 police arrested Shakur, born JoAnne Chesimard, as an accomplice to the murder of a white state trooper. In her book, Assata: An Autobiography, Shakur chronicles the way she was “lynched” by the media before the murder trial had even begun: “Evelyn had brought some newspaper clippings and it was obvious the press was trying to railroad me, to make me seem like a monster.