Lynching

Rare card · No. 22416

Lynching is an extrajudicial killing by a group. It is most often used to characterize informal public executions by a mob in order to punish an alleged or convicted transgressor or to intimidate others. It can also be an extreme form of informal group social control, and it is often conducted with the display of a public spectacle (often, though not necessarily, in the form of a hanging) for maximum intimidation. Instances of lynchings and similar mob violence can be found in all societies. In the United States, where the word lynching likely originated, the practice became widely associated with vigilante justice on the frontier and with mob attacks on African Americans accused of crimes at the hands of whites. The latter became frequent in the South during the period after the Reconstruction era, especially during the nadir of American race relations. Black people are thought to be the primary victims of lynching in the U.S. (about 72% of the total). In Europe, lynching took a very different...

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