Historian of race and religion Edward J. Blum (San Diego State University) recently reviewed a new book on lynching photography in "Arts & Letters" section of the New York Sun.
Perhaps the most well-known book on lynching photography is Without Sanctuary, but the book by Apel and Smith that Blum reviews sounds interesting as well and will surely initiate new conversation. Blum's review mentions that Lynching Photographs discusses formative moments in the visual history of lynching; we will discuss two of these events later on during the year: the murder of Emmett Till and the murder of James Byrd, Jr. in 1998, a resident of Jasper, Texas.
[Photo credit here.]
2 comments:
In the book called “Lynching Photographs” I read the description of the book that was attached to the blog. In this description it said that nearly five thousand blacks were lynched by lynch mobs in America. This reveals the hypocrisy and judgment of American Society at this time, and this also demolishes the American goal of unity. The description also said that lynching was often called a public events, and people would watch and record African Americans as they were lynched. When I read this I could not believe how someone could watch something like that happen and continue to let it happen. In Edward Bloom’s response he asks a series of questions to get the reader thinking. He believe that what we look at when we see these pictures can easily identify our attitudes about race. I agree with Bloom and I think that as modern day Americans, we should look at ourselves before we look at others. We should know exactly how we feel about a certain situation before passing judgment on other peoples opinions. Bloom also says that the authors of this book do not portray lynching as as bad as it really was.
-Shelby
Hmmm... The book certainly had some very disturbing information and I may seem a bit jaded when I say this but with all the history we know and all the evil we know man is capable of is anyone truly suprised at what we did in the past? From all we have seen with just the current war in Iraq or looking back into things such as the Cold War or WWII can we truly be surprised at the depravity of man in those wars people focused on innovating weapons to increase the kill rate and hopefully end wars more quickly but as we can see now at the price of forcing a nation to its knees with 2 very powerful bombs the short term effects ended one country's resistance but many years in the future the effects of those two bombs can still be felt. I wish we had a world where we could strive for peace and progress together, a world where I won't have to think about how many gallons of blood are spilt each day on account of tyrants or twisted men, a world where we don't fear the dark and feel comfortable wherever we go, a world where love is not something that many people regard as a fantasy or something just out of their reach. Why can't someone answer these questions? Why is it that people with dreams are forced to act or else nothing will change? I will continue to dream and even though the world claims I will never succeed or that God has abandoned us I will strive forward if in the end I am the only one who wants to still show light to the world rather than fade into the darkness then I am fine with that I can live that "lonely exsistence" because you know what? I am not alone there are other people who think like me it only takes a spark to cause a flame so I intend to show the light of hope and God to the world until everyone knows then it's up to them to decide how they want to live.
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