Lynching of Lige Daniels

This postcard shows the lynching of Lige Daniels in Texas in 1920 with many onlookers. It is a disturbing image and the additional information about what preceded this lynching adds immensely to that. Allen's site tells us that there were specific orders to protect Daniels from mob violence given to a Captain, but that he ignored those orders and that one thousand men entered the prison where Daniels was being held and lynched him after wrecking the cell. This information adds a layer of violence that we would not understand just by viewing the image. We do see the faces of many onlookers, but knowing that they probably took part in the lynching itself and in rounding Daniels up makes it somehow worse. Some of the people in the front of the picture are young boys, one of whom is smiling. This is a disgusting display of young people being indoctrinated and made to enjoy such horrific act.

Both the image itself (and the mentality and story behind the lynching) reveal the dehumanization of blacks that occurred in the South. All of the whites are facing the camera, but Daniels' body is left turned to the side, removing his humanity. The onlookers also deny him his humanity by turning away from him. However, looking at the image today, there seems to be an almost religious aspect to it with the way Daniels appears to be ascending into the light. Certainly, it was not intended by the photographer or killers, but is an interesting source of irony when the image is viewed in retrospect.

The back of the postcard gives us more information about what went on in this image. Daniels was 16 years old, which isn't much older than some of the children who participated in the lynching. It also alleges that he killed someone, a crime which he never got to defend himself for because of the violence perpetuated against black men (and boys) who were even suspected of a crime. Rule of law went out the window for them the minute a white mob decided that their version of "justice" should prevail. The rest of the message on the postcard is very matter-of-fact: "Give this to Bud. From Aunt Myrtle." We don't know, but the language used here makes the lynching seem like a very routine violent action. It also indicates that these lynchings were events to be shared. Clearly, they were social events, looking at all of the onlookers, but they were also things that people wanted to share with friends and family who weren't there. This form of documentation of these violent killings is particularly disturbing because it means that people were taking enough pleasure in killing black men after the fact, and they thought that others would too, to photograph and distribute these killings. These postcards tell us just how dehumanized and hated black men were in the South, even so many decades after the Civil War.