Reply 1

1. Both African Americans and white supremacists circulated postcards of the lynching of Thomas Shipp and Abram Smith. To whom would African Americans send the postcard, and why?

I had to think about this for a little while. Upon reflecting and reading about the postcards and how they were circulated it is my belief that while white people viewed these postcards and photographs with pride, African Americans circulated these photos and postcards as a warning. Perhaps these individuals sent the postcards to showcase the horrors experienced within a particular area, therefore offering a chance for other African Americans to avoid the area and surrounding areas from which the postcards originated.

2. Examine the photo, and then make three (3) observations about what you see. Analyze the expressions and gestures of the individuals in the crowd, how the individuals interact with each other, the juxtaposition of the lifeless young men in the background with the lively crowd in the foreground, and the overall atmosphere of the photo.

My initial observation is in regards to the state of the men hanging in the trees. It is obvious they had been beaten and dragged before being strung up to die. The young men had been brutally tortured and abused prior to their death.

My second observation is the people man in the photo pointing up to the bodies, but in such a way that is menacing. He is insinuating with his facial expressions that “you’re next” or “this could be you”. It’s clear that this person has no care in the world for the lives of these men, and most likely no African Americans in general. It’s sickening.

My third observation is the facial expressions of the people in the crowd. For example, there is a couple in the crowd, holding hands, looking around excitedly, almost as if their date night took a surprising turn. Other older adults have a more serious expression but nonetheless do not appear tortured or haunted by the sight before them.

3. Contemplate the photo while listening to and watching Billie Holiday sing Strange Fruit. (Watch the video below.) How do the lyrics and tempo of Holiday’s song evoke the brutality of lynching?

After hearing the song, and listening to it several times, I chose to look up the lyrics and read along as Billie Holiday sang. It’s a very haunting song. I think the tempo has a lot to do with the overall ambiance of the song. It is slow as it progresses and almost reminds me of a funeral progression. Additionally, her voice has a unique tone to it and It certainly evokes an emotional response for the listeners. Even without reading the lyrics, I could tell this song was heavy in its energy.

Reply 2

1. I think that the African Americans would be sending this postcard to other African Americans. They most likely used this postcard as a warning of what the real dangers of racism are, and why African Americans during this time need to stay safe and be careful of the people they are around. They also probably wanted to let others know to stay away from this area since there were just 10,000 white people so angry at these African Americans that this is what they did to them as a result.

2. When looking at the photograph you can tell that these men were in a lot of pain and you can see on there bodies that these white people did not just capture them and hang them from the tree, but they beat and abused them before hand. You can tell that they made them suffer before hand by the way there bodies look and the way they are just hanging there so lifeless.

I also noticed that there were so many people just watching these men hang there like this was a normal act. No one in the photo looked like they felt sorry or just wrong about what had just happened to these men. Makes you wonder how twisted these peoples minds were to believe that murdering these men in such a horrible way as lynching is just normal to them.

The last observation that I noticed was the man pointing and others smiling like they are proud of what just happened, even looks like some of them are posing for the photograph. All of the people in the crowd just look like they are having a great time are unfazed by the dead men hanging 5 feet away from them. Just makes you feel sick that these people thought this was right.

3. After listening to the song while looking at the picture the songs references to the event make more sense. You know that her lyrics of trees and roots with blood are referring to what the tree looked like after the men where killed by the lynching. You can tell that she chose this tempo to set the tone of the song as something creepy or even mysterious which makes you feel scared or sad while she sings the song. She chose lyrics that went with the focus of the trees that these men were hanging from and you can also figure out through the songs lyrics that lynching is a horrific death to give to someone by her descriptions of the death.

Reply 3

New Jersey school district suspends assistant teacher who allegedly told student ‘we don’t negotiate with terrorists

Source: Cnn.com https://www.cnn.com/2021/10/26/us/new-jersey-school-district-teacher-suspended/index.htmlLinks to an external site.

Synopsis: A New Jersey teaching assistant was suspended by Ridgefield High School school district after an Incident last week in which a Muslim American student claimed he was called a terrorist after asking a question during math class. The school has not yet described what exactly took place but the staff member was still suspended due to multiple students reporting the incident. The student that was targeted with the comment was Mohammed Zubi who is a senior at the high school, he claimed during the class period this took place the class was working on a project when he raised his hand to ask if the students can have more time to finish the project and then the assistant teacher said back, “We don’t negotiate with terrorists”.

Opinion: My opinion on this current event is that I think it was very wrong for the teacher to make that kind of comment towards a student. I think in a school a student should never be treated or seen differently because of their appearance or race.