White Men Against Lynch Law
January 20, 1894
Summary
A group of white men voice their opinions regarding the lynchings in Virginia.
Transcription
For more than nine years we have pleaded at the bar of our public opinion against lynch-law, believe that if such an anarchistic condition was allowed to continue to exist, it would undermine the foundation of our free institutions, brutal of our people and produces years of bloodshed and misery as a logical result. That white men, actuated by the purest motives should see the danger and take radical steps to avert it is as highly gratifying to us as it must be surprising to the people themselves.
When such able and influential white men as Rev. Dr. R.T. Wilson, Rev. Dr. W.W. Landing and Editor Joseph Bryan [unintelligent] relic of barbarism will soon be shown no more and that law will be recognized and justice meted in accordance with civilized practices.
Judging from the report of the meeting at the Second Baptist Church last Tuesday night, there was nothing said with which we do not agree.
We believe in making haste slowly in changing the laws bearing upon the punishment of crime, and take care that we do not legalize lynch-law rather than eliminate it.
We have no sympathy with a criminal guilty of rape, be he black or white.Any such person is unfit to live, and no colored man in his right mind will for an instant hesitate to agree to a verdict of death the minute he has arrived at the conclusion that the accused us the guilty party.
This course is essentially necessary for the protection of female virtue.
As between a colored man and a white woman, there is absolutely no danger of a miscarriage of justice and consequently there is even less excuse for a lynching in the case.
We are pleased to note the spirit of liberality now prevailing in our midst, and the respect for law which is being cultivated.
It cannot but result in good, and the officers of the law may be saved much trouble and bloodshed by the proper education of the masses before some alleged outrage has stirred their passions.
The speeches made last Tuesday night are so excellent that we reproduce them elsewhere, feeling satisfied that lynch-law in this section is on the ane and that the day is not far distant when Virginia will be noted for the law-abiding character of its citizens, the purity in the administration of its laws and the observance of those great principles which ensure success and bring prosperity within our doors.
Lynch-law must go!
When such able and influential white men as Rev. Dr. R.T. Wilson, Rev. Dr. W.W. Landing and Editor Joseph Bryan [unintelligent] relic of barbarism will soon be shown no more and that law will be recognized and justice meted in accordance with civilized practices.
Judging from the report of the meeting at the Second Baptist Church last Tuesday night, there was nothing said with which we do not agree.
We believe in making haste slowly in changing the laws bearing upon the punishment of crime, and take care that we do not legalize lynch-law rather than eliminate it.
We have no sympathy with a criminal guilty of rape, be he black or white.Any such person is unfit to live, and no colored man in his right mind will for an instant hesitate to agree to a verdict of death the minute he has arrived at the conclusion that the accused us the guilty party.
This course is essentially necessary for the protection of female virtue.
As between a colored man and a white woman, there is absolutely no danger of a miscarriage of justice and consequently there is even less excuse for a lynching in the case.
We are pleased to note the spirit of liberality now prevailing in our midst, and the respect for law which is being cultivated.
It cannot but result in good, and the officers of the law may be saved much trouble and bloodshed by the proper education of the masses before some alleged outrage has stirred their passions.
The speeches made last Tuesday night are so excellent that we reproduce them elsewhere, feeling satisfied that lynch-law in this section is on the ane and that the day is not far distant when Virginia will be noted for the law-abiding character of its citizens, the purity in the administration of its laws and the observance of those great principles which ensure success and bring prosperity within our doors.
Lynch-law must go!
About this article
Source
Location on Page
Upper Right Quadrant
Topic
Contributed By
Carlos Serrano
Citation
“White Men Against Lynch Law,” Black Virginia: The Richmond Planet, 1894-1909, accessed April 24, 2025, https://blackvirginia.richmond.edu/items/show/77.