Lynching shifted from a white-majority to a Black-majority phenomenon in the 1880s.

Evidence

“In the 1880s, when data on lynching were first collected, reports showed more whites lynched than blacks; the figures for lynch victims from 1882 to 1888 showed 595 whites and 440 blacks. By 1889 the trend had reversed, and in the 1890s lynching of blacks soared as the ultimate expression of Jim Crow [segregation]” Henri, op. cit., p. 43. Henri continues, “Figures … show that of all Negroes lynched between 1889 and 1941, less than 17 per cent were even charged with rape. Murder and felonious assault were the most usual charges … with rape the second most frequent. Among other offenses for which blacks were lynched were … insulting a white woman, writing to or paying attention to white women, proposing to or eloping with a white woman … testifying in court for another black or against a white, practicing voodoo, slapping a child, throwing stones, rioting, introducing smallpox, or disobeying ferry regulations.” Ibid. “From 1885 to 1927, according to figures published in the World Almanac, 3, 226 Negroes were lynched in the United States. During the same period 1,047 white persons were lynched in the United States. From 1885 to 1889 Negro lynchings ranged from 71 to 95 per year. In 1891, 121 Negroes were lynched. From 1891 until 1895 Negro lynchings ranged from 112 to 155 (1892). Since 1901 there has been no single year in which as many as 100 Negroes were lynched.” — Cedric J. Robinson, Black Marxism_ The Making of the Black…, 2185

Categorization

• CANDY: The list of trivial lynching pretexts (practicing voodoo, slapping a child, disobeying ferry regulations) is a striking, conversational-worthy fact.