Profound Metaphor, for the graphic brutality of Slavery in America

books:


	• Without Sanctuary: Lynching Photography in America Jon Lewis, Leon F. Litwack, ... Twin Palms Publishers, 2000 - 209 pages average customer review:based on 51 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

A lesson for all of us.

I haven't read the book yet, but plan to in the future. I went to a website dedicated to it the other day' and it featured those photos and the history behind them. I was saddened and horrified, and am still haunted by what I read and saw. I cannot for the life of me understand how so many of those people, including women and children, could have taken such pleasure in those unspeakable atrocities. I only hope and pray that none of those people involved were in my family.

What I wish they could have added to this book, however, were a few bits on the Native Americans. I'm 1/4 Native American myself and some of my ancestors walked the Trail of Tears. Their people were also persecuted and murdered and treated as non-human---and whites who killed "Injuns" were considered heroes. I imagine some Native Americans were lynched and tortured as well, and likely there were photos.

The pity of it is, I wonder if America has learned from its past? Even now we are tolerating human rights abuses in other countries, and it's only recently that the UN is acknowledging the horrors of Darfur. It's time for America to face its "demons" and really work to change things. If not, God will surely judge this nation for its crimes against humanity. Maybe He has already.

But what I definitely hope people will learn from this book is what hatred and bigotry can do to all of us. Don't hate ANYBODY for their color---black, white, whatever---or for their nationality, religion, etc. If we want to honor the memory of these poor victims, let's rise above the hatred of their murderers and strive to defeat the evil that led to these acts. By learning from history, we can hopefully not repeat it.

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without sanctuary

As a white man over sixty, growing up in the Northeast, I was sheltered from the realities of racism by my surroundings. "Colored people" were simply not socially acceptable, thats all.
When you go through this book you will cringe and shutter. What reason and why would white people do this. Not only lynch but torture and maim before they allowed the subject to die, and often for no reason - just because it was Saturday night and people needed something to do. Truly a wakeup call for white America to reflect on what we were and really how far have we come.

Buy this book !

Z

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Healing from the hurts of racism

This an extraordinary book.

My father, who was a civil rights activist, wore a button for years that said, "I read banned books." When he died, we made a bookmark with his photo on it wearing that button. When I read Without Sanctuary I used that bookmark. Living here in New York City I often ride the trains, and I like to read during these trips. I decided to take the cover off this book because I was worried about children and anyone else who was not ready to see these photos getting a glimpse of them. But I've talked to my friends at work, and I've even given them peeks of this book because I want so much for people to know about the period of our national history during which lynching occurred. Few people can stand to look.

I once went to a workshop for learning how to undo the effects of racism, which was mostly for people of color. I asked the workshop leader, "What can we white folks do to end our own racism?" He answered, "Put your face into the buzz-saw of racism, and hold it there until you heal." I am still, many years later, trying to follow that suggestion, and buying this book was part of my journey as a white person in acknowledging the racist legacy I inherited growing up in the US. Without Sanctuary puts your face into the ways that white society tried to terrorize and silence a large number of US citizens.

My family immigrated from Lithuania and other countries in Eastern Europe around the turn of the 1900s. As Jewish immigrants, many of them felt that they had nothing to do with slavery, and they certainly had their own problems coming here. My grandfather participated in union organizing with other Jewish workers, and my father turned towards the problems of poverty and racism in our city during the 1960s until his recent death. But I still feel we as a white family benefit from centuries of free labor in the US. The hard fact is, that as white immigrants we bought into the racist system that supported a middle class, or at least the intellectual lifestyle. Today I work as a public school teacher in the housing projects of Brooklyn, but I own my own house and I enjoy a middle class income.

Without Sanctuary reveals and reminds of us of that period following emancipation when white citizens still stood to gain economically by the silence and passivity of African American communities. That period, more than any other period of our history, conditioned us, under heavy terror, to accept the separation caused by so many years of slavery. Without Sanctuary is one of my buzz-saws, and I cherish it. And although no one I know can stand to look at it with me (yet), it is a healing device, because without understanding there cannot be reconciliation. Without pain there cannot be recovery. We as a people must face and feel our own history so that we can move forward to a world without racism.

The question you need to ask yourself before buying this book is, "Am I ready to heal?"

Thank you, to the folks who put together Without Sanctuary.

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"AWAKENING AND HEART BREAKING "

THIS IS THE SECOND COPY FOR ME . SOMEONE STOLE THE FIRST ONE. WHEN I ALLOWED MY STUDENTS TO VIEW THE PICTURES.... A FUNERAL ATMOSPHERE ENTERED THE ROOM COUPLED WITH TEARS AND REQUEST FOR ME TO CLOSE THE BOOK !!! SHOCKING AND EDUCATIONAL... A MUST FOR ANY REAL BLACKMAN AND WOMAN'S HALL OF KNOWLEDGE !!

Profound Metaphor, for the graphic brutality of Slavery in America

This book is the ultimate metaphor for the graphic brutality of Black people in America.
The British poet William Wordsworth once said, "Man know thee thyself, presume God not to scan, the sturdy of mankind is man". How do you begin to understand the nature of evil? The sheer barbarity of these pictures, the nonchalant attitude of the perpetrators and the wicked glee on the faces of the participants (even children) confirms the graphic truth of the institutionalization of racism and evil in our world. Dr. Martin L. King once said that "God will not so much punish the wicked for their evil deed, but for the appalling silence of the good people. For all those lily livered fools in our world, who are quick to parrot that idiotic sentence "slavery was before my time", let me remind you of James Byrd of Texas in 2000. Without a Sanctuary: Lynching photography in America is a profound documentary of unimaginable evil and wickedness. These horrible pictures can only appeal to our conscience as a society to do the right thing. I agree with Dante in his 'Inferno' that the worst place in hell will be reserved for all those who are neutral on the great issues of life. I am profoundly grateful to the authors of this great human document James Allen, John Lewis, Hilton Als and Leon F. Litwack. May the souls of these beings who endured these horrific brutality rest with God forever.

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