Commodification, Abuse, and Lynching of An Unidentified Black Male

African American male standing on buggy, facing camera, stripped, deep lacerations and wounds, his handcuffed hands placed to cover his genitals. lynch mob. Circa 1900, location unknown. 

African American man standing on a buggy, back to the camera, feet shackled, stripped, deep lacerations and wounds.

Onlookers, one with a bloodstained shirt. Circa 1900, location unknown.  

Lynching of African American male, victim hanging in a tree, stripped, lower body wrapped in coarse blanket. Lynch mob. Circa 1900, location unknown. This series of images from James Allen's "Without Sanctuary: Photographs and Postcards of Lynching in America" most graphically displays the abuses people of color incurred at the hands of the white majority and illustrates the role violence played in the Reconstruction period. In the form of a time series, starting with the unidentified man facing the camera to the his eventual lynching, one can observe the exploitation of this man's body and the abuses he suffered leading to his eventual lynching, which is seen in the third image to be a social spectacle and cause for gathering.  Although post-emancipation, the lasting effects of institutional slavery are apparent in the first two images. Recalling the images we saw in class and discussions revolving around the 'chattel principle,' this unidentified man being displayed harkens back to the slave auction set-up in which slaves were displayed on a stage of sale and reinforces the importance of the physical body of the slave as a 'product'--in this case the body of the man preparing for his impending death. The man has taken an obvious beating and the lashings can be attributed to the white man "in the righthand corner, wearing a soft-brimmed hat, edging into the camera's view" holding a whip (Background Info). By displaying this man as naked, the white men have stripped him of all agency and have left him vulnerable to the onlookers attending his lynching. It is not explicitly stated, but this man is most-likely facing some accusation resulting in his eventual lynching, which has been deemed important enough to draw a major crowd of all white males (based on the limited visibility of the people in the images). It is imperative to acknowledge the lack of information regarding the identity of this man, the location of this event, and of what he is being accused. At this time, public records are limited and not particularly informative. Labeling this man 'unidentified' and noting the location as 'unknown' further dehumanizes the entire event and could, in a way, justify the practice of lynching and its public acceptance of the white crowd. By not providing a name, the crowd distances themselves only focusing on what he is accused of. (Note: the lack of information and record keeping could have been avoided. However, literate whites were the ones controlling the record keeping and therefore controlled published records selectively). In the case of this series of images, the photographer captures the entire body of the man, which further emphasizes the importance of the 'body.' Although not being sold, his body is commodified as the object of persecution that people have to come to see killed. The photographer captures this image up to the culmination of the event at the lynching. By hanging the man on a raised platform from a tree, he is made more public broadening the reach for audience capacity and further expanding the event's influence. Speaking of a mass audience and tying this event to traditional capitalism, by making these images available in the form of postcards, people could visually distribute a first-hand account of the incident to a greater number of people spanning traditional geographic boundaries. The traditional racist, southern stereotype could expand its influence beyond formal boundaries.  From the 16th-century to the Reconstruction period, European and American imperialism/exceptionalism has systematically stripped Native people and minorities of land and fundamental rights. In this time, Columbus disenfranchised the natives, American/European capitalist elites forced the migration of African slaves promoting their end-goals, U.S. government forced the relocation of Native Americans, and the rise of white supremacy in the form of terrorist groups (KKK) continually reinforced a social hierarchy of white dominance. The acceptance of not only this series of images, but all of the images provided in James Allen's "Without Sanctuary: Photographs and Postcards of Lynching in America" displays the race inequity that has permeated throughout the course of American history.

Lynching of African American male, victim hanging in a tree, stripped, lower body wrapped in coarse blanket. Lynch mob. Circa 1900, location unknown.

This series of images from James Allen's "Without Sanctuary: Photographs and Postcards of Lynching in America" most graphically displays the abuses people of color incurred at the hands of the white majority and illustrates the role violence played in the Reconstruction period. In the form of a time series, starting with the unidentified man facing the camera to the his eventual lynching, one can observe the exploitation of this man's body and the abuses he suffered leading to his eventual lynching, which is seen in the third image to be a social spectacle and cause for gathering. 

Although post-emancipation, the lasting effects of institutional slavery are apparent in the first two images. Recalling the images we saw in class and discussions revolving around the 'chattel principle,' this unidentified man being displayed harkens back to the slave auction set-up in which slaves were displayed on a stage of sale and reinforces the importance of the physical body of the slave as a 'product'--in this case the body of the man preparing for his impending death. The man has taken an obvious beating and the lashings can be attributed to the white man "in the righthand corner, wearing a soft-brimmed hat, edging into the camera's view" holding a whip (Background Info). By displaying this man as naked, the white men have stripped him of all agency and have left him vulnerable to the onlookers attending his lynching. It is not explicitly stated, but this man is most-likely facing some accusation resulting in his eventual lynching, which has been deemed important enough to draw a major crowd of all white males (based on the limited visibility of the people in the images). It is imperative to acknowledge the lack of information regarding the identity of this man, the location of this event, and of what he is being accused. At this time, public records are limited and not particularly informative. Labeling this man 'unidentified' and noting the location as 'unknown' further dehumanizes the entire event and could, in a way, justify the practice of lynching and its public acceptance of the white crowd. By not providing a name, the crowd distances themselves only focusing on what he is accused of. (Note: the lack of information and record keeping could have been avoided. However, literate whites were the ones controlling the record keeping and therefore controlled published records selectively). In the case of this series of images, the photographer captures the entire body of the man, which further emphasizes the importance of the 'body.' Although not being sold, his body is commodified as the object of persecution that people have to come to see killed. The photographer captures this image up to the culmination of the event at the lynching. By hanging the man on a raised platform from a tree, he is made more public broadening the reach for audience capacity and further expanding the event's influence. Speaking of a mass audience and tying this event to traditional capitalism, by making these images available in the form of postcards, people could visually distribute a first-hand account of the incident to a greater number of people spanning traditional geographic boundaries. The traditional racist, southern stereotype could expand its influence beyond formal boundaries. 

From the 16th-century to the Reconstruction period, European and American imperialism/exceptionalism has systematically stripped Native people and minorities of land and fundamental rights. In this time, Columbus disenfranchised the natives, American/European capitalist elites forced the migration of African slaves promoting their end-goals, U.S. government forced the relocation of Native Americans, and the rise of white supremacy in the form of terrorist groups (KKK) continually reinforced a social hierarchy of white dominance. The acceptance of not only this series of images, but all of the images provided in James Allen's "Without Sanctuary: Photographs and Postcards of Lynching in America" displays the race inequity that has permeated throughout the course of American history.