Colloquium Series: Charles Seguin, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill

“The National News Media and the Decline of American Lynching 1883-1930”

When does sustained criticism of racial and ethnic violence emerge? When racial and ethnic violence break out, members of organized political opposition are often the first victims. Others who might speak out are often intimidated or killed. Thus, sustained criticism of violence must come from those distant enough to be safe from retribution. Yet, those socially and geographically distant from the victims of racial violence often lack the motivation to criticize such violence. I argue then, that criticism of racial violence is most likely to emerge when geographically distant groups with sufficient resources share an identity with targeted groups. I develop these theoretical claims with an historical analysis of the national new media response to lynching from 1883-1930