Hard to believe
Studying these photos has engendered in me a newfound disgust for those who performed lynchings. Photos like numbers 22 39 53 and 80 show how the lynched weren't just put to death, but they were humiliated and tortured. Photos 39 and 40 especially made me feel tarrible, because I get to experience how the man was huminliated by being lashed and stripped. The site also provides the photo of the man after he was dead. I felt sick.
The worst part of seeing the lynchings is in pictures 15 and 27, where there seems to be a carnival feel. It's like a social event for those watching. They all smile and attempt to get into the picture. It seems that some of the short onlookers in some of the photos are children! These onlookers disgust me.
To actually see the aftermath of gruesome acts really drives home the brutality that humans are capable of. In Beloved, reading the violent act Sethe commits strikes a chord in my soul, but it has nowhere the impact on me that the visuals presented has. I would much rather use a visual to get a point. However, reading a passage can really give some perspective on what was occuring in the crowd, how the violence occured, and the attitudes of those involved.
The worst part of seeing the lynchings is in pictures 15 and 27, where there seems to be a carnival feel. It's like a social event for those watching. They all smile and attempt to get into the picture. It seems that some of the short onlookers in some of the photos are children! These onlookers disgust me.
To actually see the aftermath of gruesome acts really drives home the brutality that humans are capable of. In Beloved, reading the violent act Sethe commits strikes a chord in my soul, but it has nowhere the impact on me that the visuals presented has. I would much rather use a visual to get a point. However, reading a passage can really give some perspective on what was occuring in the crowd, how the violence occured, and the attitudes of those involved.
posted by mmmmkay at 3:12 PM
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