Mary Turner was one of at least 11 victims in Georgia’s Lowndes and Brooks counties during what became known as the Lynching Rampage of 1918.
Newspapers falsely reported Slocum Massacre as a race revolt
The violence, known as the Slocum Massacre, was incited by a rumored uprising that never happened.
Annapolis confronts a legacy of lynchings and racial terror
The city of Annapolis — and its newspaper, The Capital — have embraced the need for accountability in facing its murderous and bigoted past.
Atlanta newspapers’ white supremacy fueled 1906 race massacre
In 1906, two of Atlanta’s most prominent newspapermen committed an act that many of today’s journalists would consider a sin.
Newspapers called Tallahassee lynching victims animals, insane
The language used in news coverage of lynchings often sought to justify the deaths of Black victims to white readers.
Kentucky newspapers often blamed Black victims for lynchings
Kentucky newspapers contributed to a climate of terror by calling the victims bad negroes, “barbaric” or lazy and promiscuous.
Columbus, Mississippi, newspapers were not innocent bystanders to racist violence
Lynchings, were a form of racial terror, said historian Elijah Gaddis, an assistant professor of history at Auburn University. No state used the tactic more than Mississippi.
Yazoo City’s newspaper provided a forum for its pro-lynching readership
The Yazoo City Herald, a white-owned newspaper, covered lynchings, sometimes delivering inconsistent or problematic reporting.
Massive public lynchings of Black men were nurtured by Waco, Texas, newspapers
In Waco, Texas, up to 15,000 white men, women and children, elected officials and law enforcement would gather to watch public lynchings of Black men.
Anti-lynching laws have not passed Congress in 130 years
In January 1900, George Henry White, the only Black man within the U.S. House, proposed a bill to ban lynching. During his speech, he was interrupted and the bill never went past the House Judiciary Committee.