Anti-lynching movement
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| + | The '''anti-lynching movement''' was a [[civil rights movement]] in the [[United States]] that aimed to eradicate the practice of [[Lynching in the United States|lynching]]. Lynching was used as a tool to repress [[African American]]s. The anti-lynching movement reached its height between the 1890s and 1930s. The movement was composed mainly of African Americans who tried to persuade politicians to put an end to the practice, but after the failure of this strategy, they pushed for anti-lynching legislation. African American women helped in the formation of the movement and a large part of the movement was composed of women's organizations. | ||
| - | '''''Against Our Will: Men, Women and Rape''''' is a 1975 book about [[rape]] by [[Susan Brownmiller]], in which Brownmiller argues that rape is "a conscious process of intimidation by which all men keep all women in a state of fear." Brownmiller's book is widely credited with changing public outlooks and attitudes about rape, but many of her arguments have been rejected or criticized by scholars. | + | The first anti-lynching movement was characterized by black convention meets, which were organized in the immediate aftermath of individual incidents. The movement gained wider national support in the 1890s. During this period, two organizations spearheaded the movement - the [[National Afro-American League|Afro-American League]] (AAL) and the National Equal Rights Council (NERC). |
| - | ==Summary== | + | [[Ida B. Wells]] was a significant figure in the anti-lynching movement. After the lynchings of her three friends, she condemned the lynchings in the newspapers ''Free Speech'' and ''Headlight'', both owned by her. Because of her anti-lynching campaigning she received death threats from racist rioters. |
| - | Brownmiller describes rape as "a conscious process of intimidation by which ''all men'' keep ''all women'' in a state of fear." She asserts that "rape is a crime not of lust, but of violence and power." Brownmiller sought to examine general belief systems that women who were raped deserved it, as discussed by [[Clinton Duffy]] and others. Believing that rape was a way for men to instill fear in women, she compares it to the gang [[lynching]]s of [[African Americans]] by white men. This comparison was used to show how lynching was once considered acceptable by communities, and then attitudes changed, followed by changed laws; Brownmiller hoped the same would happen with rape. Brownmiller writes that to her knowledge, no zoologist has ever observed that animals rape in "their natural habitat, the wild." | + | |
| - | ==Reception== | + | In 1909, the [[National Association for the Advancement of Colored People]] (NAACP) was established. The formation of this organization was a significant event in the history of the anti-lynching movement. The NAACP formed a special committee in 1916 in order to push for anti-lynching legislation and to enlighten the public about lynching. |
| - | Brownmiller's book is widely credited with changing public outlooks and attitudes about [[rape]]. It is cited as having influenced changes in law regarding rape, such as state criminal codes that required a corroborating witness to a rape, and that permitted a defendant's lawyer to introduce evidence in court regarding a victim's prior sexual history. The book was included in the New York Public Library's Books of the Century, which listed 100 books that greatly influenced different aspects of culture. | + | |
| - | Others have taken a more critical view of the work. Gay scholar [[John Lauritsen]] dismissed ''Against Our Will'', calling it "a shoddy piece of work from start to finish: ludicrously inaccurate, reactionary, dishonest, and vulgarly written." [[Angela Davis]] argued that Brownmiller disregarded the part that black women played in the [[anti-lynching movement]] and that Brownmiller's discussion of rape and race became an "unthinking partnership which borders on racism". Brownmiller's conclusions about rapists' motivations have been criticized by anthropologist [[Donald Symons]] in ''[[The Evolution of Human Sexuality]]'' (1979), and by [[Randy Thornhill]] and Craig T. Palmer in ''[[A Natural History of Rape]]'' (2000). Historian [[Peter Gay]] wrote that ''Against Our Will'' "deserves pride of place among (rightly) indignant" feminist discussions of rape, but that Brownmiller's treatment of [[Sigmund Freud]] is unfair. | + | According to Noralee Frankel, the anti-lynching movement had its origin in the freedom movements after the end of the [[American Civil War]], and that it cannot be described only as a result of the [[Progressive Era#Political reform|reforms]] during the [[Progressive Era]]. |
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| - | Literary critic [[Camille Paglia]] called ''Against Our Will'' well-meaning, but nevertheless dismissed it as an example of "the limitations of white middle-class assumptions in understanding extreme emotional states or acts." Behavioral ecologist [[John Alcock (behavioral ecologist)|John Alcock]] writes that while Brownmiller claimed that no zoologist had ever observed animals raping in their natural habitat, there was already "ample evidence" of forced copulations among animals in 1975, and that further evidence has accumulated since then. | + | |
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The anti-lynching movement was a civil rights movement in the United States that aimed to eradicate the practice of lynching. Lynching was used as a tool to repress African Americans. The anti-lynching movement reached its height between the 1890s and 1930s. The movement was composed mainly of African Americans who tried to persuade politicians to put an end to the practice, but after the failure of this strategy, they pushed for anti-lynching legislation. African American women helped in the formation of the movement and a large part of the movement was composed of women's organizations.
The first anti-lynching movement was characterized by black convention meets, which were organized in the immediate aftermath of individual incidents. The movement gained wider national support in the 1890s. During this period, two organizations spearheaded the movement - the Afro-American League (AAL) and the National Equal Rights Council (NERC).
Ida B. Wells was a significant figure in the anti-lynching movement. After the lynchings of her three friends, she condemned the lynchings in the newspapers Free Speech and Headlight, both owned by her. Because of her anti-lynching campaigning she received death threats from racist rioters.
In 1909, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) was established. The formation of this organization was a significant event in the history of the anti-lynching movement. The NAACP formed a special committee in 1916 in order to push for anti-lynching legislation and to enlighten the public about lynching.
According to Noralee Frankel, the anti-lynching movement had its origin in the freedom movements after the end of the American Civil War, and that it cannot be described only as a result of the reforms during the Progressive Era.
