So, when I was in Vegas, I read a book on a horrific event that occurred in Duluth, Minnesota on June 15, 1920; an event of which I was unaware until just recently. It was the lynching of three young black men who were accused of the rape of a young white woman.
The Duluth jail was broken into by a large mob of people, three of the six men accused were dragged into the street, savagely beaten, and hung from a lamppost in downtown Duluth. As was the custom of the day, a postcard was made from the photo of the savage scene.
The men were cut down and buried in unmarked graves in Duluth. One of the three had identifiable family; the other two have no record of their past, family, or lineage. The graves have since been located, and modest headstones have been placed to mark their final resting place.
The punishments for the leaders of the mob were light. Completely insufficient, in my opinion. However, one needs to remember that at that point in history, it was rare for a white person to be punished in any manner for the death of a black person.
I consider myself somewhat of a history buff, so I was taken aback that I hadn’t heard of this terrible tragedy before recently. This happened in Alabama, not Minnesota, right? However, apparently I’m not alone. It was an event that many would have preferred swept under the carpet forever. Fortunately, there were people who didn’t let that happen.
There is now a memorial across the street from the location of the lynching in downtown Duluth. I’m looking forward to visiting it at some point in the future.
There are so many issues that this event raises that it would be impossible to discuss them in a blog setting. Mob mentality. Racism. Fear of the unknown or different.
The one thing that really sticks with me is the loss of a life and legacy. As of today, no family for any of the three men can be found. They were young, single men, working with a traveling circus. Fortunately, their undignified death and burial has educated many people about the multi-faceted human character - the proverbial 'good' that comes from 'bad'.
If you are interested, here are a couple of websites.
http://www.claytonjacksonmcghie.org/index.php
http://collections.mnhs.org/duluthlynchings/
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When conversations with new friends turn to the subject of growing up, I often brag about being raised in Minnesota. I usually include things like the closeness of small town life, not having to lock the front door at night, leaving the keys in the car in case your neighbor needs it in an emergency, etc., etc.
When the subject of race comes up, I readily admit my upbringing was pretty homogeneous. Pretty much everyone was Scandinavian, German and/or Polish. There wasn't much exposure to racial issues.
I also would make the argument that this lack of exposure did not necessarily mean northern Minnesotans were raised racially biased. Quite the opposite actually. There was little racism to be exposed to. I was raised in an environment were racism was something bad, ignorant white trash from the South were responsible for. Us good Minnesotans were too socially liberal to ever be capable of such things.
I never heard this Duluth lynching story before. And even though it happened 40 years before I was born, it shatters my innocent view of my youth and exposes what ALL people are capable of.
I have been going through some books lately that deal with some similar social issues that I am excited to blog about in the future. The subject is really more about children and the evil society is capable of. The common theme with this story, though, is that it sheds light on the importance of needing to evaluate one's values BEFORE being put into a bad situation. Mob mentality takes over when there is a vacuum in the value system and people can hide in the anonymity of a crowd.
Interesting stuff, Budsy.
This event really raises so many issues. Fortunately the book, "The Lynchings in Duluth" by Michael Fedo, is written, not from a singular standpoint, but from a factual standpoint, grazing the many issues of the situation. He covers the background of the ethnic groups living in Duluth at the time, and the economic and political environments which factor heavily into the event.
He doesn't really end up blaming anyone for what happened, but, in essence, blames everyone, which allows the reader to make up their own mind.
I also discovered that there have been a total of 7 lynchings in Minnesota: 5 located in the Iron Range area, 1 in the Twin Cities area, and 1 in Glencoe, Minnesota.
In fact, about 2 years prior to the lynching of the three young black men in Duluth, a 37 year old Finnish immigrant was tarred, feathered, and hung from a tree in a park in Duluth for his anit-WWI views.
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