Analysis of image: Lynching

This is an image of two black men being lynched in front of a crowd of whites. This image portrays the harsh and brutal treatment of blacks after the period of Reconstruction. People who were lynched were never the right to have a fair trial and it was never proved that they committed the crimes they were accused of. In the image the two black men have pieces of their clothing torn off and a young girl in the crowd holding up the pieces of clothing. The young girl may have been taking these pieces of clothing as a memoir, as her face shows excitement and happiness to be holding the pieces of clothing. Just like the young girl, many other people in the picture seem to posing for the camera as if this is a community event that they want to capture and save so that they are able to look back on this night. The man in the front who is pointing at the bodies hanging above him seems to be proud of what is happening and wants anybody who sees the picture to turn their attention to the dead bodies dangling in the air. Every person in this picture seems to be content with the lynching of two black men, by taking the law into their own hands, whites during this time were able to keep blacks in fear of doing anything that would allow them to end up like the two black men who were killed.