jeudi 13 mars 2008

Hanging shadows (strange fruits)



Some days before NATO was to launch the invasion of Afghanistan back in 2002, we were shown on western TVs a report picturing the public execution of a woman, allegedly for infidelity. Gruesome images, whose goal it was to describe how barbaric and backwarded these people are at the beginning of the XXIth century and the true nature of the Talibans.

The sort of scene that couldn't take place in the West, in America in particular where executing women is unheard of.

Uh... Wait a second here... Karla Faye Tucker anyone? You know, the one for whom Pope John Paul the Second prayed for mercy. Granted we weren't shown the pictures but my guess is that it wasn't exactly a pleasant show to attend, was it? Well, we'll never know.

Now, since we're at it... Does the name Jesse Washington ring a bell? We're talking death penalty here but this time it took place in Waco, Texas, less than one century ago (1916) . In the heart of the Bible belt. And the people who committed this horror where as Christian as you get.

There have been many other atrocities taking place in the US by the same sort of mob with religious upbringing (sort of) . What about the Dulluth Lynchings of 1920?




All in all, several thousand American citizens have been swiftly tortured and executed, out of any judiciary process by their fellow Christian countrymen until the middle of the 50's. And we're not talking European Middle-Ages here.



Don't get me wrong: contemporary Americans aren't to blame for the horrors their forefathers were guilty of, but you sometimes wonder if America is really the country best entitled to teach lessons of morality to the whole world... Particularly when it speaks in the name of God.

9 commentaires:

Ned Ludd a dit…

A blogger has another take on the lynchings in general. It seems that more than half the time there were economic considerations as well as racism.

http://bradhicks.livejournal.com/378012.html

ZapPow a dit…

Not really a surprise, ned. A poor black man doesn't represent any danger, and has nothing to be envious of. He knows his place. A successful black man isn't playing by the rules, he is a danger, he doesnt stay where he belongs, he tries to be the equal of the white man. He must disappear, or the order of the universe will be all messed up.

Flocon a dit…

Of course, the racial perspective is paramount in these horrendous stories.

I could have emphasized this notion but the idea behind the post was to stress that no country in the world is entitled to tell others how they should behave and according to which moral tenets.

Homo homini lupus, que ce soit en Chine, aux USA ou en France.

C'est sans doute le rôle des organisations internationales, on pense d'abord à l'ONU, d'essayer de définir right from wrong. Quant à agir... l'ONU n'est qu'un instrument entre les mains de ses bailleurs de fonds... :-(

Flocon a dit…

And hello to Alison..

Princess Abigail a dit…

Hello flocon! nice to be here with you! I just hyperlinked your blog from mine because yours is a blog so totally, totally, alien to mine, but which has captured my attention and which intrigues me .... even if it is a tad out of my league. I like the bit about dog eat dog, we are our own worst enemy. Now I'm going to have a good read at some of your older postings!!!! A bientot...

Anonyme a dit…

À ce sujet, voir par exemple l'article de Anne Chaon, « Le lynchage comme art photographique », Le Monde diplomatique, juin 2000, http://www.monde-diplomatique.fr/2000/06/CHAON/13931 , traduction en anglais http://mondediplo.com/2000/06/11photo , et le site web http://www.withoutsanctuary.org/ qui regroupe des dizaines de photogaphies de lynchage.

Flocon a dit…

Nicolas Krebs,

Merci pour les liens. WIKI en donne un certain nombre à la fin de l'article sur "Lynching in the US", dont un qui informe sur l'existence d'un "collectionneur" de cartes postales sur ce thème.

J'ai regardé toutes les photos de lynching, c'est abominable évidemment.

Les Allemands ont organisé il y a quelques années une exposition itinérante sur les méfaits de la Werhmacht pendant la guerre. Peut-être serait-ce une bonne chose que semblable démarche soit entreprise aux US à titre de catharsis.

On ne peut vivre en gardant sa mémoire scellée.

ZapPow a dit…

C'est plus ou moins le cas, notamment lors du mois de "Black History Awareness" (je ne suis pas sûr de cette dénomination) chaque année, encore qu'il y ait de fortes résistances, bien plus à droite qu'à "gauche" évidemment (gauche entre guillemets parce qu'il n'y a rien aux USA qui corresponde véritablement à une gauche).

Ned Ludd a dit…

Flocon, here is a link to a book I first read over 20 years ago and talks about the existing aftermath of slavery and lynching terror and racism today.

http://www.american-pictures.com/english/index.html

It also seems that not many of the money brokers are interested in a slavery museum. The project has difficulty raising the money.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/12/arts/artsspecial/12slave.html?ref=artsspecial

Compare that to the holocaust museum which was approved and constructed in almost record time, even though the U.S. had little to do with the holocaust and everything to do with slavery.