Lynchings and White Ministers
Prepared By: Benny Levi Cooper Jr.
One question that is often not asked in discussions about segregation and slavery is who benefited from these systems. And, after reading Orlando Patterson it is clear that one group of beneficiaries were white ministers. Then the question becomes what was their role? The answer is that as African Americans were fighting for equity they were using their influence to maintain the status quo. This is especially clear when one examines the atrocity known as lynching.
Lynchers can be classified into four categories
- “small-time terrorists;
- private gangs involved in moral and anti-governmental crusades and the settlement of private grievances;
- large-scale semi-legal posses; and
- mass mobs numbering between fifty and several thousands, which had the full support of the community for their extralegal and illegal activities”
[The fourth is the “highly ritualized choreography”]
Describe a lynching.
- Sadistic Torturing
- Castration
- Burning Alive
Example of Lynching and the White Ministers Role in Inciting It
“The slaughter of an insane ex-slave, Henry Smith, who had allegedly killed the young daughter of a brutal Texas policeman after the policeman had assaulted him. Although the child had not been sexually molested, a local clergyman, Bishop Haygood, fueled the growing hysteria with lurid tales of how the child had been “taken by her heels and torn asunder in the mad wantonness of gorilla ferocity.”” Read about the Lynching that followed Patterson p. 193
Other Roles of White Ministers
- Presided over lynchings
- Preached pro-Klan sermons from their pulpits
Ex: “Corinthians 5:13 --- “Therefore put away from among ourselves that wicked person” – the pastor disingenuously appealed to the clause in the Constitution requiring a “speedy and public trial.””
+ This message prompted a prisoner to be taken from jail by a mob and burned alive
- Turned their churches over to Klan meetings
- Spoke at Klan Rallies
In fact, it is noted that without white ministers KKK enrollment would not have reached its critical mass (202)
Nevertheless, the remaining question is what were the benefits that the white ministers received?
- Bigger Congregations
- Generous Donations
Sociologists connect historical patterns to help them understand phenomenon. Thus, as a training sociologist I must ask if this history had anything to do with initial letter from clergy to MLK to express disinterest in the movement and request that we wait for the courts to decide.