Remembering: The "Forgotten" Lynchings

I periodically remind my students to think about "who, what, how, and why they remember" and as much as possible to rely on primary sources as "their lens" to history.

Why do we remember certain stories?

1. The story that is told usually "wins".  For example:

• The Great Emancipator: Abraham Lincoln "freed the slaves."
• Gettysburg Day 2: Little Round Top...what about Culp's Hill...The First Minnesota?
• The Civil Rights Movement started with Rosa Parks and Dr. King.
• "Weapons of Mass Destruction."

2. Those who have power can manipulate history.  For example:

• Government
• News Media
• Publishers
• Teachers

3. We tend to "choose the positive" and the "comfortable myth".   For example:

• "We couldn't have been that bad..."
• The North and South "fighting for noble causes" during the Civil War.
• "Remember the Maine!"
• The Gulf of Tonkin Incident
• Lee Harvey Oswald...

4. We tend to tell the "Story of the Hero" and "The Tragedy of the Victim".

• Heroes and Leaders are emphasized over Grassroots Movements.
• Everyone was not a victim...
• This de-emphasizes the fact that most of us are just ordinary people...but, I want my students to realize that ordinary people can do extraordinary things!  

With this in mind, let's reconsider the "conventional wisdom" on Lynching in America...

Though "well-known" in Mexican and Mexican-American History, the story of Mexican lynchings is virtually nonexistent. Many scholarly books (thousands of pages and dozens of photographs- with a "Deep South emphasis") have been written about "Lynching in America" and none of them include or analyze the brutal effects of "Eight Decades of Terror" on the Mexican-American Community!
   

Between 1848 and 1928 there are 597 documented lynchings of Mexican-Americans, mostly in the west and southwest (Texas, California, and Arizona were the worst). There are also hundreds of reported lynchings where the lack of primary sources does not allow for definitive statistics. We know that it is sometimes dangerous to compare statistics... 

 

Or those who ignore the statistics?!?

Nevertheless, it is possible (based on verifiable data) to compare the extent of African-American to Mexican-American lynchings...

Between 1848 and1879, Mexicans were lynched at a rate of 473 victims per 100,000 and African-Americans at a rate (highest rate was in Mississippi) of ~50 victims per 100,000.

Between 1880 and 1930, Mexicans were lynched at a rate of 27 victims per 100,000 and African-Americans at a rate of 37 victims per 100,000.

Clearly, we as teachers (I apologize to all of my students for my many shortcomings) and as a society need to do a better job at discovering and telling the full, accurate, and true story of American History...