Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it."

“Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." 


Recently students in the SAE fraternity at the University of Oklahoma were caught on video singing a song with these lyrics.

“There will never be a n--ger SAE.
There will never be a n--ger SAE.
You can hang ’em from a tree, but it will never start with me.
There will never be a n--ger SAE.”

I wonder if those students have any real concept of just how sickening and disgraceful those lynchings were.

Do they understand that this picture is what "hang 'em from a tree" really means?

It’s estimated that there were 4000 “racial terror lynchings” in 12 Southern states from 1877-1950.

One of them was in 1934 in Florida. 

A young white woman named Lola Cannidy disappeared.
Her mutilated body was found the next day.
Two hours after that a black man named Claude Neal was arrested.
He lived across the street from her.

Days later a mob showed up at the jail and took Neal and announced that they were going to lynch him 12 hours later.

Here’s how PBS described what happened next:

"By the time Friday evening came around, a large crowd of several thousand people had gathered to observe and participate in the lynching. 

According to eyewitness accounts and newspaper reports, it was a drawn out and torturous process. 

Soon after arriving at the chosen spot, Neal was castrated. 
His torso was cut and stabbed with knives and sticks. 
His fingers and toes were cut off and the remainder of his body burned with hot irons. 
One newspaper account states there were 18 bullet holes in Neal's chest, head and abdomen.

Neal's body was then tied to the rear of an automobile and dragged to the Cannidy farm, where women and children participated in the final acts of mutilation. 

The body was then hung from an oak tree on the courthouse lawn. 
Photos were taken and later sold for 50 cents a piece. 
Neal's fingers and toes were reportedly exhibited as souvenirs.

Courtesy PBS

Claude Neal was never tried or convicted of the crime.
He was just executed. 

Right now there is no major public memorial or monument to remember the thousands of black Americans, like Neal, who were lynched. 

I hope at some point that changes.
And if you want to hit "like" I will assume you feel the same way. 

As I said at the top:

“Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." 
Philosopher George Santayana

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