U.S. Senate Apologizes For Inaction On Lynching

By Hazel Trice EdneyNNPA Washington Correspondent WASHINGTON (NNPA) – The United States Senate formally apologized Monday for its refusal to approve any of the 200 anti-lynching legislation bills introduced during the first half of the 20th century, a failure that led to the deaths of at least several thousand African-Americans. During that period, the House of Representatives passed three anti-lynching measures but the Senate, controlled by powerful, Southern segregationists, never approved an anti-lynching bill. Sen. George Allen (R-Va.), co-sponsor of the bi-partisan resolution with Sen. Mary Landrieu, (D-La.), says the resolution addresses what had been “a stain on the institution of the Senate.” He explains, “This is a Senate resolution because it was the Senate who held up this legislation, filibustering it in the years [between 1882 and 1968] when over 4,700 Americans, predominately African-Americans, lost their lives from whippings or burnings, but mostly hangings. And the crimes took place all over the country, 46 states. But the Senate failed to pass even one piece of legislation that could have, in my view, prevented these unjust killings.” According to records Tuskegee University in Alabama, which has extensively documented lynchings for years, nearly three-fourths of the victims were Black and 99 percent of those accused of lynching were not punished. By all accounts, Tuskegee was able to document only the known lynchings; the deaths of thousands of others are believed to have gone undocumented. The resolution states in part: “The Senate apologizes to the victims of lynching for the failure of the Senate to enact anti-lynching legislation; expresses the deepest sympathies and most solemn regrets of the Senate to the descendants of victims of lynching, the ancestors of whom were deprived of life, human dignity, and the constitutional protections accorded all citizens of the United States; and remembers the history of lynching, to ensure that these tragedies will be neither forgotten nor repeated.” The Senate’s long overdue apology was laced with political shenanigans. Approximately 85 of the 100 senators signed on as co-sponsors of the anti-lynching resolution. Rather than having a roll-call vote, which would have revealed the position of each member of the body, it was agreed that the Senate resolution would be passed by unanimous consent, a voice vote that does not record individual votes. Those opposing the measure were conveniently absent and therefore cannot be accused of voting for or against the resolution. Not among the co-sponsors were former Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott of Mississippi and Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), former chair of the Judiciary Committee. The apology was prompted by the publication of the book, “Without Sanctuary: Lynching Photography in America,” by Hilton Als; Jon Lewis; Leon F. Litwack, and edited by James Allen. It is a graphic pictorial documentation of lynchings across America. Although the Senate failed to act until now, decades after lynchings were rampant, African-Americans, such as journalist Ida B. Wells-Barnett, launched anti-lynching crusades, placing their own lives at risk. The NAACP was founded in 1909 largely in response to the lynching of Blacks, many of whom were innocent or were accused of frivolous offenses such as accidentally brushing up against a White person or saying something considered disrespectful. Lynchings usually took place during the day in a festive atmosphere. Many were held in the center of town to signal to African-Americans what could happen to them and were often assisted by law enforcement officials. Sometimes photographs were taken and turned into postcards that were mailed throughout the nation. James Cameron, 91 years old, almost became a candidate for one of those postcards.According to Cameron, he was 16 when he survived an attempted lynching in Marion, Wis., almost 75 years ago. He had been with two friends that decided to rob a man in a parked car. One of his friends gave him the gun, but when Cameron saw that the White man, Claude Deeter, was a friend that he knew and even had shined his shoes, he gave the gun back and bolted. Cameron said he heard shots as he fled. Only later did he find out what had happened; police arrested him and charged him with killing Deeter. They also said that Deeter’s girlfriend had been raped. All three suspects were in separate jail cells until a mob, led by the Ku Klux Klan, kidnapped them one at a time. The first two were lynched. According to Cameron, the mob then came back for him and shoved, kick and beat him all the way to the town square, where they placed rope around his neck. He said an unidentified woman in the crowd stated that Cameron had nothing to do with the murder and demanded that he be let go. And he was. Ball, the girlfriend, later testified that Cameron had fled before the killing and that she had not been raped. Cameron remained in prison for four years. Indiana Gov. Evan Bayh pardoned Cameron in 1993. Cameron a long time civil rights leader of Milwaukee, Wis., was on hand when the Senate passed a resolution apologizing for never having outlawed lynching. “A lynching is when two or more people take the law into their own hands, according to their racist views. We’re still being lynched,” says James Cameron, “We’re not equal. We’re just being tolerated.” Senator Landrieu says she hopes the official apology will educate the public about lynching. “Most of them occurred in town squares, most of them were conducted with the whole town in attendance; they were not just lynchings. But they were a public form of torture and humiliations, sometimes lasting eight and nine hours of torture before death,” she says. “Some churches were let out so people attend the lynching. Sunday schools were let out so people could attend the lynching. It was a form of terrorism practiced by Americans against Americans.” As Allen and Landrieu marshaled support for the Senate resolution, their civil rights record have been examined, especially their votes on the latest round of controversial judges nominated by President Bush. Landrieu, a Democrat who regularly gets an A on the NAACP Report Card, joined Republicans in supporting the confirmation of Texas Supreme Court Justice Priscilla Owen for the Fifth Circuit U. S. Federal Court of Appeals, who was adamantly opposed by civil rights leaders. In a statement, she says she voted for Owen “out of respect for her qualifications and experience as exemplified by the American Bar Association’s unanimous well qualified rating for her.” She was also one of 14 senators involved in a deal with Republicans to allow Owen and two other judges to be voted on rather than filibustered. She opposed the other two judicial nominees, Janice Rogers Brown and William Pryor. But they were still confirmed. Allen, who regularly gets Fs from the NAACP, voted for all three Bush nominees. Cameron was mildly pleased that the Senate has at least apologized for not interceding to prevent the lynchings. He says, “It’s probably too late. But, it’s better late than never.”