The Invisible End of the Line by Griffin Waldron https://padlet.com/griffin_waldron/4l0o6jkd8rse The annotations of a family of African Americans, plagued by the aggression of the Klu Klux Klan and the Sheriff tricked into participating. en-us 2016-11-10 17:46:04 UTC 2025-11-03 00:35:00 UTC hello@padlet.com 80 years Later... griffin_waldron https://padlet.com/griffin_waldron/4l0o6jkd8rse/wish/136822277 http://chronicle.augusta.com/stories/2003/05/12/met_372386.shtml#.WCSxTVfw-qA
To the men and women of Aiken, South Carolina, the death of Sheriff "Bud" Howard was a tragedy, but as procedure would follow, his assumed connections to the Klu Klux Klan would leave him ineligible for the recognition he deserved. When Sheriff Howard and his deputies raided the Lowman Farm on April 25, 1925, the lawmen were looking for booze. The Lowman family had been accused of selling bootleg liquor. During the invasion, gunfire ensued, and one of the Lowmans laid there dead, along side of one of the Lawmen, Bud Howard. Once it was discovered that the Lowmans did not have any whiskey or still in the house, the initial mission was thrown out of the window, and the issue became the death of the Sheriff. Three of the Lowmans were initially arrested before the acquittal of the third resulting in the mob seizure of the prisoners from the prison, and the lynching of those seized. After the lynching, it was discovered that the Sheriff's department was involved in the lynching, which credited the late Sheriff Howard with connections to the KKK as well, leaving him dead and unrecognized for his duty. The importance of the discovery in 2003 that Sheriff Howard was not involved with the KKK and was just doing his job that night in April, 1925 was immense in regard to the case and the deaths of the African Americans. Unlike most lawmen of this period, Sheriff Howard had been accredited with helping the African Americans of his community, not fighting the very people with whom he lived side by side with. As justice was served in the realm of the Lowmans with one of their acquittals, justice was served for Sheriff Howard, who was a well deserving enforcer of the law.

]]> 2016-11-10 17:48:46 UTC https://padlet.com/griffin_waldron/4l0o6jkd8rse/wish/136822277 Death Comes in Numbers griffin_waldron https://padlet.com/griffin_waldron/4l0o6jkd8rse/wish/136922272 The early 20th century in America was a time of progress, in most aspects. African Americans had required the right to vote, as well as women, and the economy in America around the 1920’s was as booming as it had ever been. The south however, seemed to either disagree with certain progressions, or blatantly ignore the fact that America was changing. The picture above shows the lynching of a black man, by an entirely white mob. Now, this was the most prominent form of murder of African Americans during this time in American history. Unlike this photo, the Lowman Family was murdered by gunshot not by hanging. However, the article still refers to the murder as a “lynching.” African Americans that were lynched were normally lifted from jail cells, or from the possession of lawmen, after the person had committed a crime, such as the accidental murder of Sheriff Howard. Sheriffs, police officers, and prison guards normally turned the other way when mobs would show up to kidnap the accused, and would later declare to have been held at gun point in return for the prisoners. Aiken, South Carolina was only one example of the treacherous number of lynching that occurred in the south during this time and the years leading up to 1925.]]> 2016-11-11 02:08:46 UTC https://padlet.com/griffin_waldron/4l0o6jkd8rse/wish/136922272 Trouble in the south tomlinr https://padlet.com/griffin_waldron/4l0o6jkd8rse/wish/136941603 The article reveals the racial vengeance of South Carolina. Throughout the late 19th century racial tension grew throughout the United States. More of this tension was noticeable in the Southern parts of the United States. In the south, people were blaming their financial problems on the newly freed slaves that lived around them. Lynching's were becoming a popular way of resolving some of the anger that whites had in relation to the free blacks. Lynching is the practice by a mob who takes the law into their own hands in order to injure and kill a person accused of some wrongdoing. The alleged offense can range from a serious crime like theft or murder to a mere violation of local customs and sensibilities. The issue of the victim's guilt is usually secondary, since the mob serves as prosecutor, judge, jury, and executioner. Lynch mobs justified their actions in many ways: they needed to protect women from dangerous black men or vengeance when they believe law enforcement has failed them.  

Three black men were kidnapped from the local jail and shot as a result of a mob's anger after the popular Sheriff Howard was murdered. In the article the mob justified their actions by simply mentioning they were "fearful" after the Sheriff's death. The article calls this an act of "vengeance," but in reality it's an act of racial vengeance. Racial vengeance is inflicting punishment for an injury or wrong toward blacks in order to support the racial tension in America. The actions of the mob depicted in the article shows that lynching enforces the racist social order of the South. The mob did not want the black men to get legal justice, so they took matters in their hands to prevent blacks from having their right to justice. The lynch mob wants to strike fear into black Americans, so they won't live in their neighborhoods, have rights, or hope. Nevertheless, the diction in the article show signs of opposition. Words and phrases like "savagery," and "the Aiken affair leave no room for doubt that it will be denounced as an atrocity" imply anti-lynching rhetoric because they describe the incident in Aikens as savage and an atrocity. This emphasizes the outrage many had against lynching. Furthermore, by the late nineteenth century, black Americans had the political experience and confidence to begin to push back against those who wanted to decrease their civil rights. For instance, Ida B. Wells-Barnett, a black journalist, was shocked when three of her friends in Memphis, Tennessee were lynched for opening a grocery that competed with a white-owned store. Outraged, Wells-Barnett began a global anti-lynching campaign that raised awareness of the American injustice. Soon after, the anti-lynching campaign, led by such organizations as the National Association of Colored Women (NACW), the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) sought to fight lynching through education or legal action, or by securing federal legislation against it. 

Ultimately, Lynching  served as an extreme reminder of the unreasoning power the basest passions, fears, and hatreds of white Americans could exercise over the lives and humanity of black Americans. 
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