Blog Without Sanctuary

Watching Without Sanctuary confirmed the reality of lynching for me. I knew that lynching had occurred and had been virtually ignored by the government, but I could never fully understand the fear it evoked for the African American population. Our discussion in class on Tuesday caused me to being to consider what lynching meant to African Americans and the meaning of it today. The narrator in Without Sanctuary evoked an emotion I was not expecting. I felt the fear so many African Americans feel.

I was also shocked by the amount of spectators at the lynchings. That made me think about how different ideologies are passed down through generations. By seeing children at the lynchings, I began to understand how naive some people are. How is a child supposed to understand equality if all he knows is what his parents teach and show him? Even though some of the most horrific brutalities of racism were before our time. It is easier for me to understand how some of the racist thinking has survived the generations. It confirms the power of education. It is important for all of us to educate ourselves on the REALITIES of racism and prejudice. If we do not do this, we are only as smart as our predecessors. It is time that we start the change.