So Much For Race Relations

Carter Strange - Before

Carter Strange - Hospitalized

Carter Strange - Recovery

Is God no longer recognized in our society? What is wrong with us? On June 20, in Columbia, SC, the state capital, a young man was violently attacked by 8 other young men of color. Their ages ranged from 13 to 19. Five of the kids’ parents turned them in. What they did was wrong, period. There is no excuse for their actions. We cannot give explanations whether they were misguided, parentless, raised by a single parent, troubled or whatever. Wrong is wrong and they should be punished for their actions. I don’t know what else the eight young men will be charged with besides aggravated assault. They could be charged with robbery, attempted murder, lynching, or whatever the prosecutor decides. The city council passed an emergency curfew from 11:00 P. M. to 6:00 A.M. in Five Points where the incident took place.

The lynching of Laura Nelson in Okemah, Oklahoma on May 25, 1911; she had tried to protect her son, who was lynched together with her.

The main reason why I’m bringing this article to your attention is what some white folks are saying about black folk and retaliation. Some of these people are putting an entire race of people in one category for the sins of the few. Race relations have been set back after the election of a Black President. The commentaries made on this article are venomous, vile, vitriolic and full of hatred. These comments are just short of calling for hanging these men. Two wrongs will never make it right. It is pitiful how some people still feel about the races. There are good people and bad people in all of them. Of course, these vile comments are made behind computer screens and fake names. These are the new eSheets & eHoods. Some people need something to hide behind to say what they want to. Others, use drinking as an excuse. Keep in mind that we are South Carolina where there really some good people living here.

Thomas Shipp and Abram Smith, lynched in Marion, Indiana on August 7, 1930.



Thomas Shipp and Abram Smith, both African-Americans, were lynched on August 7, 1930 in Marion, Indiana. They had been arrested the night before on charges of robbing and murdering a white factory worker and raping his girlfriend. A large crowd broke into the jail with sledgehammers, beat the men, and hanged them. Police officers in the crowd cooperated in the lynching. A third person, 16-year-old James Cameron, escaped lynching due to the intervention of an unidentified member of the crowd who announced that he had nothing to do with the rape or murder.  A studio photographer, Lawrence Beitler, took a photograph of the dead bodies hanging from a tree surrounded by a large crowd; thousands of copies of the photograph were sold. The event is notable as the last confirmed lynching of blacks in the Northern United States.



An African American lynched from a tree, 1925.

Strange Fruit - Hanging was a family affair in those days.  Blacks were not considered people, just animals.  The more things change, the more they remain the same.