Without Sanctuary

I've had previous knowledge of this type of terror, other known as lynching, but I've never seen so many pictures of it. The actions of these people are ignorant, inhumane, and in the words of the great Kanye West, heartless. It's wrong how they felt that they were better than another race and feel that they could abuse and violently mistreat another race. They "believed" that just because a a group of people who were a different color then they could view and treat them like livestock. Another thing that took me back was how they turned pictures into POSTCARDS, sending them around showing the nation the brutal images of the innocent hanging blacks, with a crowd observing callous act. What is also astonishing is how is was made into a neighborhood gathering sort of thing. Majority of the onlookers were males, but there were woman and even childern. This leads me to believe that they were grown up thinking that they were better than any other race of people and that abusing and killing people is a way of life and that it was ok for these actions to take place.

Blog 4- Without Sanctuary Film Response

I wasn't really surprised by anything that was shown in this film because I had seen many similar images. It was recently that I learned that lynchings were also entertainment for little children, and that they went along with their parents to watch. That is disgusting. I think that the act of lynching is totally inhumane, especially the way they did it because someone could just accuse a random African American of an act that was seen as death penalty worthy, and their life is ended just like that. It was a very flawed system. In previous classes I have been made aware of just how terrible lynching was, however I wasn't so aware that women would also be hung. I don't think that I had ever seen a picture of a woman hanging which was very shocking compared to those of men which I had seen many times before. Even though I have seen many photographs of these cruel acts, I never get use to them I still get all kinds of hateful and angry feelings towards the people who did these things. I am also so confused on how people could really do or watch such things. The one thing I was completely unaware of was the fact that pictures of people hung were sent back and forth as postcards. I am speechless.

Homework #4

After watching "Without Sanctuary" I feel very sad and disgusted that people could ever treat another human being with the horrible acts of lynching. Before watching the video I knew what lynching was and knew that it took place, but I never knew how awful it really was. For all those people to just stand innocently around a hanging body was horrific to really see in photos. Also to see that these people then used the photos that were taken at the lynching sight to send as postcards was just shocking. Lynching was more than just a hate crime, people used this as entertainment. One thing that I learned from the video was that the "white men" not only lynched African American men, they lynched African American women. I was shocked to see an African American women hanged from the bridge. No person has the right to do this under any circumstance, and no person should ever go through the horrible act of lynching. 

Homework Question #4

After watching “Without Sanctuary” I'm full of feelings of sadness, anger, and disgust. To me, lynching was a cowardly action. It symbolizes the anger that arose from the fear of white southerners that the people they worked so hard to label and treat as animals were now free, were actually human beings, but even worse were their equals. From watching this short film I learned that clearly, their anger also drove them to lose any human like characteristics; outside of clearly deranged individuals, I don't understand how human being could commit or stand to watch such grotesque acts of violence.

It was the U.S. History class I took in high school that first introduced me to lynching as a community activity. Prior to that I was under the impression that lynching was orchestrated by an angry mob of white men, not that it was further put on as some sort of show for the entire community to sadistically enjoy. Although I already knew about it, these photographs say the thousands of words my textbook never did. One of the most disturbing images was that of the woman, Lonnie Nelson, hanging off of the bridge with dozens of white people watching on the bridge above her. The background of the photograph, with the sun glowing on the still water, looks so calm and not at all indicative of the horrifying actions going on in the forefront. The artistic characteristic of this photo is my last example of what “Without Sanctuary” taught me. I had no clue and still can’t understand the fact that lynching wasn’t a sick enough action for these people, “it had to be photographed, reproduced, and distributed as a souvenir facilitating the endless replay of anguish.” It’s so sad what our country used to be but it’s remarkable where it is today. I feel an African-American man as our President indicates how hard African-Americans have worked and how far they’ve gotten. Although I greatly believe we’ve come far from where we once were, I still don’t believe we’ve come full circle.

Without Sancturary

I had previous knowledge about lynchings and how frequently they took place pre and post Civil Rights movements. Watching the short film evoked strong emotions of hatred, anger and disgust. It also made me begin to contemplate the actions of the students that were involved in the Jena 6 incident. The great thing about the film being placed online is that we as a nation have no excuse for our ignorance of the past. We as a nation will not be able to ignore the past and work together to make sure that these horrid acts will not happen again regardless of what side we stand for on race. I remember learning in one of my classes a few years back that parents would pack meals and bring their children to watch the events. I was told that it was how they established the term picnic, it was said that they would "pick a n*****" to hang as a festivity while they ate and socialized with friends and family. When I heard of this notion I became frustrated and vowed that I would not take part in a picnic again. Another bothersome entity that I learned about lynching was that it was used for towns people to be the judge and jury for people, whether they had evidence or not. Some times all it took for a man or woman to get hung was for a white person to accuse them of a crime, that person's accusation was all that was needed to end a life. The reality is that we as a nation have come a long way from hanging each other in trees. We have even more work to do to rid our nation of racism but I do not feel that we should not forget about this horrible past, to ensure that we do not repeat it.

Without Sanctuary response

It probably goes without saying that I found this video horribly disturbing and difficult to get through. After the first couple of pictures I wanted to quit watching and just say that I got the idea. I'm glad I finished it, however, because I think knowing about this point in history is of monumental importance and I'm sorry to say that I had no understanding of the scope and brutality of this period. I had always thought (and my high school history classes confirmed) that lynching were rare and they happened only to men in the dead of night by a couple of crazy Klan men. I am profoundly disturbed to find I was mistaken, and that it was widespread, public, and involved women and children as well.
This said, I am glad I watched this video. I think it has really broadened my understanding of this historical moment. I better understand why there wasn't more demand for civil rights since people's lives were constantly at stake. I also understand the popularity of Booker T. Washington's stance that African Americans should form their own societies, since this seems far safer. When I was first reading about the two ideological camps, I thought that W.E.B. DuBois was right and that people should be fighting the system, but now I better understand the painful and difficult situation that black families were put in, and the fatal consequences that came to many who stood up for what was right.

Weekly Blog #4

'Without Sanctuary'

This video was very disturbing and shocking, I have always known that lynching took place. Lynching goes all the way back to the time before slavery as a way of punishment, not only for Africans but for anyone, but after watching this video, and looking through all the pictures, lynching was something more during this time period. It was like a form of entertainment which is horrible. I cannot believe how small children stood around and watched the lynching, i guess White adults had the idea stuck so far back in their head that it was normal so they didn't think twice of children being exposed to something so wrong, because at the time, they didn't see it as wrong.

Another thing I found shocking is how the pictures were all over as postcards. How can one send a letter to someone else with a dead man as the picture?? That doesn't make sense to me. You would think that at least one person in the crowds of hundreds that gathered to watch the lynching would have had a conscious. I am just glad that no longer exists and we can be somewhat more 'civilized' with our actions.

Without Sanctuary Response

The most shocking part of this experience is the normalization of the act. The idea that lynching was approached with no more caution then slaughtering a hog for meals is the truly disgusting part out of all of this. Holding these atrocious as attractions where even children attended disturbed me thoroughly. For a child to be exposed to death so early is controversial enough but it is that they were exposed to it as an honor that makes these images and stories completely vile. Not only were these children exposed to such terrible torture and violence but they were taught to hate a people as a basic principle of societal behavior. "Without Sanctuary" couldn't be any more of an appropriate title as even after death these people were violated publicly and their remains either disposed of without respect or mutilated as a form of entertainment. The strength in those living through this must have been immense as the short film in itself gave me a feeling of hopelessness and terror. The insecurity in simply not knowing if you were to be hunted and killed could not have been bearable and the idea of a normal or productive life was definitely out of the question. eliminated. The value in looking over the ignorance that dominated our popular culture is that we can now work towards progress and focus on never faltering back to where we have been in thought.

Without Sanctuary

I have to say that while watching this horrible, disturbing video, my eyes were tearing up. It just shocks me that these people were treated in such an awful way. I could barely finish it because I was so disturbed. What would bring people to go through with this? It's not a fun sight to see or do to another person. Lynching and killing an innocent person just because of their skin color is unjust and unfair. They were people too and they just wanted to gain their freedom and live like everybody else did. I don't understand how the people that did this to the African Americans lived with themselves after lynching them. I would not be able to live with myself if I did that to someone. To think that they liked doing this blows my mind because killing someone today is a huge crime. People could go to jail forever for this type of act today, but back then it was considered normal to kill people and hit them and burn them. I am so happy our society has matured and changed our ways of living. It is so great that everyone is equal now and no matter what your skin color, religion, sex orientation, or beliefs are, everyone is treated the same exact way and everyone respects each other.

QUESTION 4

After watching this movie I sit in disgust. I still can't figure out why white people did this. What gave whites the right to do this? To think of this thing called lynching as some sort of entertainment to the whites is an awful thing. I learned that men, women, and even children gathered to witness this horrific misdoing. And to learn that women were being lynched along with men is just so sad to hear. The pictures do make my stomach drop. Back then it seems like everywhere a person went you would see a black person hanging from a tree. Whites viewed African Americans as animals and it was nothing to continue to dehumanize them. Looking at these pictures these white people hung African Americans like they hung hogs. I guess whites did this to intimidate and to let African American know who was superior. Also learning about this just shows why African American history is talked so little about. To bring back these memories just seems like such a hard thing to do.

Blog Four- Lynching

The most shocking thing I took away from this video was how lynching had turned into almost a community event. Families would show up and watch together and it would be no big deal. "Without Santuary" Opened my eyes to a differant side of this horrible act that I had not seen before. I did not know so many people would watch this happen, and that it could happen to both me and women.

What gave people the right to do this and why was it so casually experienced. Society had a warped opinion of what African Americans were, and treated them like animals, when White Men would do whatever they wanted. It was like food at a grocery store hung for all to see.

How cruel, and horrible a thing that people thought so highly of themselves, as to treat others in such a way. Maybe this is why we learn little about it in school, we should be ashamed of this treatment, and how cruel we treated African Americans.

Week 4 Question

I had a good idea of what lynching was before taking this class. My eighth grade teacher, when going over U.S. history, was adamant about explaining to us what it was. At that age I was shocked at how people not only could do this to other people but how they took it as a spectacle. I also had learned that the people who lynched these African Americans were tried in court but never found to be guilty. We also looked at stories of specific African Americans who were lynched and beaten so brutally that their bodies were unrecognizable. I was aware of this cruelty that plagued our nation before watching "Without Sanctuary". However, from the specific stories I had learned of back in my eighth grade class, I had never heard of a female being lynched until the movie. I thought that it was primarily black males that were accused of rape. This movie also opened my eyes to the fact that kids and other African Americans watched these lynchings and not just other whites. From what I have learned, in the past and now, lynching marks one of the darkest and cruel periods in American history, and there was not one thing that could reasonably justify it in my mind.

-Sarah Pergine

Question 4

From my previous knowledge, I have learned a little about lynching but not in such detail as I did in this class. African Americans were percieved as animals rather than humans. In saying this that is why the "white man" believed he could do as he pleased. They were not treated with respect and in the video the audience could see that the african americans were strung like pigs in a butcher shop. I thought the white people's actions were barbaric especially when they used lynching as a mere social gathering.

Blog Question #4

When studying history, people often wonder if humanity as a whole has in fact learned from its mistakes. After viewing the movie "Without Sanctuary" I could not help but ask this question. Since my elementary education regarding slavery I have been aware of lynching and what it entailed. However, I was certainly unaware of the popularity it held among the people carrying them out. To think hundreds of people came to watch the desecration of African Americans was certainly surprising to me. Furthermore, I could not help but think of how the Romans would congregate to watch slaves fight to the death as a means of entertainment. And so I wonder if this comparison is legitimate or not and if humans have in fact changed their basic ways. To think this went on in the manner in which did sadly suggests we as a people have not come very far.

Brian T.

Blog question #4

It is not possible to watch the video, Without Sanctuary and not have an overwhelming feeling of disgust and repulsion. How could people do this? I can not understand how lynching could have ever been tolerated.What a very dark period in our country's history that leaves me with a sense of shame. I knew lynching existed. I've read about it and seen images on televison. I did not know that it was such a spectacle which attracted crowds. That was the most shocking knowledge for me, and that pictures such as these even exist. Painter tells us in Creating Black Americans that lynchings were staged for spectators in order to not only punish, but to create intimidation. Children were also part of the crowd watching. I also was not aware that women were the victims of lynching. It had always been justified to prevent or punish black men accused of raping white women. James Allen attempts to change these pictures of African/Americans from anonymous victims to people, when he names them and imagines what they might have done while alive. His story attempts to give sanctuary after death to them.

Thoughts on lynching

After watching the movie, I felt almost clueless.  I still don't understand why people would do this and what purpose could every justify doing something like this.  I had a hard time concentrating on James Allen's words because of the photos.  Lynching was definitely not explained as part of my education.  I had heard the term and I knew it had a bad connotation, but didn't fully know what it meant.  From the movie, I learned that lynching was much more common and public than I had realized.

Multi-media Examples For This Week

Here are some multi-media examples we will discuss on Tuesday and Thursday interspersed through lecture. Please do not be confused: I am not asking you to direct your blog answer to these examples (with the exception of the Without Sanctuary movie that you WILL blog about); they are simply discussion items for in-class use.

I. Ethnic Notions (For Lecture Three)


II. Wade in the Water (For Lecture Three)
(Chorus)
Wade in the water.
Wade in the water, children.
Wade in the water.
God's gonna trouble the water.

Well, who are these children all dressed in red?
God's a-gonna trouble the water
Must be the children that Moses led
God's a-gonna trouble the water.

Chorus

Who's that young girl dressed in white
Wade in the Water
Must be the Children of Israelites
God's gonna trouble the Water.

Chorus

Jordan's water is chilly and cold.
God's gonna trouble the water.
It chills the body, but not the soul.
God's gonna trouble the water.

Chorus

If you get there before I do.
God's gonna trouble the water.
Tell all of my friends I'm coming too.
God's gonna trouble the water.

Chorus

III. Kara Walker (See also Lecture Four)


IV. Faith Ringgold Images (For Lecture Five)
http://wwol.is.asu.edu/.images/faith_ringgold.jpg
http://www.faithringgold.com/ringgold/images/frg0084d.jpg
http://www.humboldt.edu/rwj1/104i/200.jpg

V. Billie Holiday, Strange Fruit (For Lecture Five)


VI. Without Sanctuary (For Lecture Five)
http://www.withoutsanctuary.org/main.html

Blog 3

Growing up, I have always believed that the cause of slavery was racism towards towards African Americans. Perhaps naïvely, I thought that American decided to start using this new idea of forced labor against blacks, not whites, because of their prejudice stance on the color of their skin. After reading the Painter chapters, I my idea of slavery got completely turned around. If it wasn't for the economic need for slavery, Africans would have never been put into the racism spotlight as they did. The British believed that by using slavery, their economy would boost and flourish with all the new extra help they'd be getting. As economy as their backbone, slavery began. From there, slavery became a lifestyle. Black skin now became known as in-superior, which lead to the country's racists views.

Week three blog

Personally when I think of the slave trade I see people discriminated against and taken advantage of because they were thought to be an inferior race. I think racism did have a big part in this market system but I also see that economics was a slighlty bigger role due to the fact that people were money hungry and lazy wanting others to do work for them while they enjoyed the money coming in. There is still a big problem going on right now with the sex slave trafficing and you can see that that is also due to a big economics factor. I think that even though economics did have a majority role in the slave trade we still have to take into account that the african americans were a minority and were taken advantage of and that racism did take another big part.

Blog 3

When looking at the slave trade, I think it was brought on by both racism and economics; however, I think economics was the main reason. I say this for one main reason, and that's because the trade really picked up and spread when people saw how lucrative the business could be. Slaves were worth a lot of money and could be brought back in great numbers. Not only was the trade lucrative, but it also made the southern economy a lot stronger with the trading itself and the help it gave farming.

There's no doubt that the slave trade had some racism behind it, but it didn't pick up until people knew how lucrative it was and that's why I think it was spurred by economics.

Week Three Blog

There are two ways to look at this question. When looking at the economy of countries, which slaves were taken from, economics played much more of a significant role during slave trade compared to race and racism. Race and racism became a part of slave trade, but it was because of the economic situation of the world. It is possible for one to notice that the United States had a strong economy at the time, although there were some economic issues. In countires where people were being taken from to be used as slaves, they were generally in poor economic situations. I do not believe race was one of the main reasons behind why slaves were taken from particular countries, but the economy in these countries were a major factor. Because people were so poor, it was easier to take them from their native land and bring them overseas.

You can also consider the economy of the United States. While the U.S. had more money than many other countires, we were still a new country in need of a cheap way to boost our economy. We needed to find a way to sell our own products without spending much money. Because of this, we resorted to slavery. Race may have been a significant factor when choosing which countries to take people from, but the economy was still the key factor when thinking about how the slave trade grew in the United States.

Week Three Homework Question

It is my belief that economics inspired the slave trade and are what made it what it became. Originally, the slave trade began as a means of jump-starting the economy of the British colonies. Furthermore, with a limited number of Africans also profiting from the slave trade as well as slave trade serving as a way of settling domestic issues economics clearly played a major role in the politics of the slave trade. Although I feel racism was a minor part of the slave trade, I feel it grew as time progressed and was a major result of what the slave trade became. Although forms of punishment toned down as the slave trade grew, science began to make the claim of superior races and further encouraged racism among the inhabitants of North America.

Brian T. 

Week Three Homework Question

I think the economic benefits of slavery were what inspired the slave trade. Racism was the result. Free labor allowed slave owners to be as efficient as they could be. Soon, you could not compete in the market without using slaves for labor. Slavery quickly became an epidemic. I think slave owners had to develop racist ideology in order to justify their actions. I feel that it was clear to them that what they were doing to the slaves was inhumane. By convincing themselves that black people were less human than white people, they were able to enjoy the free labor without feeling guilty. This thinking was contagious. Plantation owners began to spin every resource they had to support these ideas of white supremacy. Their twisted words attracted other whites, thus allowing them to justify their ownership of slaves. After a short time, white people had brainwashed themselves to believe that they were physically and spiritually superior to black people. This thinking was passed down over generations and unfortunately is still relevant in some aspects today. Racism is not was inspired slave trade, but what resulted from it. When slavery was the only option to compete in the cut=throat market, people were desperate for anyway to justify it.

In earlier year always thought that racism played the largest role in the slave trade but after I sread the passage I found that I was very ignorant to the truth. Economics played a larger part. Th

Homework Question #3

The idea of slavery I think came about with purely economically intentions. The act of slavery, however, was fueled by racism. It’s no coincidence that slaves were black people. Initially, when the number of slaves wasn’t so immense, Europeans easily could have taken white prisoners from their country and forced them into slavery. Claiming the Bible set the precedent for the darker brother to work and be a slave instead of the lighter brother, Europeans and Americans chose to instead force Africans to slavery.

As stated Europeans used the misinterpreted passages from the Bible and racial hierarchy theories to justify the terrible conditions of slavery but also used these excuses as reasons to abuse slaves. If slavery were a solely economic act then why did this have to happen? Just owning slaves promised economic gain and the beating and raping slaves did not increase it. I definitely think economic gains were the intentions of slavery but race played a greater role within the act of slavery and the greatest role in what occurred after it.

WEEK 3 BLOG

I think that many people feel as though the slave trade was based off of racism, but I believe that economics played the larger part. Slave owners did not have racism in mind when they enslaved the native African people. They saw how they were able to nurture and cultivate the land and were also very strong, and know that they would prosper financially if they were able to use them and their farming knowledge. Slavery was able to fund the European slave owners when it came to buying property (including slaves) allowing them to grow and expand and the money from slavery gave them power. But i do believe that slavery was the cause of racism and the ideas of racism.

Racism and Economics go Hand in Hand for Slavery

What do you think played a larger part in the slave trade: economics or
racism? Why/Why not? Upon reading Painter’s six chapters and my own prior knowledge of African American history I would believe that it is a combination of both. I do not feel that one is greater than the other. I feel that hatred and miscommunication aided the fuel to manipulate and abuse another culture for economic gain. I believe that the idea of racism made it easy to view slavery as a means of profit and vice versa. It was easier to say that you are helping a group of uncivilized people to become civilized by capturing them and “taming” them. When the true idea is that because of the racism or feeling of superiority to Africans it was easy to use them as a commodity and grow their business. Painter states that, “African slavery was neither racial nor hereditary;” I would dispute this statement for the simple notion that Europeans could have enslaved other Europeans or others of the same nationality. The idea that Europeans in the past had indentured servants or something along the lines of indentured servants that they paid close to nothing for their work they could have continued that pattern or something similar to it. The idea that African slavery changed the mode there had to be a difference not merely for profit but something that made the inhumane idea of slavery continue to be ok (which would be the idea of racism). I believe adamantly that racism and economic wealth went hand in hand to maintain the institution of slavery. One needed the other to prosper, without racism the idea of slavery would not have had the opportunity to take flight or continue, there would have been no reason to enslave another “civilized” culture and without the notion of free labor to expand economic wealth there would have been a system in place much like the indentured servant that would have been in use. Each concept needed the other to be put into use and maintained, in this light no evil should be viewed as lesser they stand as equals.

Week 3 Question

I believe that slavery was beneficial to the economy and that is the reason it existed. Slave owners were able to harvest fields at faster rates and the cotton production rose drastically in a matter of years. Although slavery was favorable to the economy i believe that racism was the underlying root of the Atlantic Slave Trade. Before the mass transportation slavery existed as an economic benefit "African Slavery was neither racial nor hereditary"(29). I believe that the Europeans saw Africans being enslaved and sought to take advantage of them. Slaves did work...they did work that their owners were not willing to do. These owners knew that if they owned slaves their wealth would grow. If racism was not the bigger issue i believe that the Europeans could have and would have transported their own kind in large masses, or work hard for the wealth they sought.

Blog #3

I would have to argue that economics was the one of the most important factors in slave trade, if not the most important influence. Economic benefit was just one of the few factors that led European nations to colonize, along with religious zeal and territory ownership. I would also argue that racism was not a cause of the colonization but it kept fueling it once colonies were established in the Americas. The Europeans didn't sail to Africa with the intent oppress an entire race. They wanted workers for their new plantations that were set up in the New World. Additionally, Europeans weren't the only ones that were started the slave trade. They received help from wealthy merchants from the countries on Africa's east coast who captured civilians and sold them to the Europeans. So it wasn't about black versus white at the start, in hindsight it was blacks versus blacks to see who could profit the most off of selling their own kind. Again that all can be traced for the peoples want for economic gain. But racism grew in the colonies as time passed and it became a driving force which created rules and regulations for slaves, such as if you were born to a mother that was a slave, you were a slave for life. I'd also say that Europeans used this to create an oppressed working class at their disposal and for their profit. So to sum it up, economics was the origin of the slave trade and for most colonization in general. I'd also argue that several years after the start of the slave trade, Europeans grasped the idea that they could use racism as a tool for profit and power.

Week Three Blog

Before reading the chapters in Creating Black Americans, I only viewed the slave trade as a racial issue. But, now I believe that economics played a larger role on the slave trade. There were many times in the reading that Painter explained the importance of slavery to the economy. For example,"Slave trading grew into big business after European traders organized a huge, transatlantic market (p.31)." She also states, "slaves fed the American and British economies and made possible the industrial revolutions of both countries (p.92)." Furthermore, she goes on by saying "slavery remained a truly national institution economically (p.93)." The slaves were seen as property, something that they could buy or sell. I don't think that racism really became a part of the slave trade until after it had been going on for awhile. The torment, pain, and suffering that the slaves had to go through during and after slavery proves, however, that racism was also an issue.