Terrorized Without a Cause

Lynching in the Deep South

African Americans in the Deep South were often terrorized by gangs of white mobs following the Civil War.  African Americans were hung by mobs such as the Ku Klux Klan for simple being black. Lynching was used as an excuse to maintain inequality and separation between blacks and whites in the South. Some reasons African Americans were hung included looking at white women, trying to seek equality, voting, not having a job, hate crimes, rape, robbery, and talking back. African American men were the usually victims of lynching that took place in the South. Black men were seen as savages because black women were seen as immoral and unethical by white men. Black women tried to protect their household and family by pushing for the Dyer Bill. African American women were the first to speak out on lynching and raise funds to support the Dyer Bill. They organized and created programs to make American throughout the nation aware of the racial prejudice taking place in the South. In the 1890’s Ida B. Wells made it her objective to publish articles on lynching and campaign against racial injustice in America. After the Dyer Anti-Lynching Bill failed to pass through Congress in 1922, blacks moved. A lot of African Americans moved to the North to avoid lynching mobs which led to division in some black homes.