The Lynching of Isaac Barrett / Racial Violence in America

The Lynching of Isaac Barrett, also, Racial Violence in America. Community Remembrance Project. The Lynching of Isaac Barrett . Isaac Barrett, an African American tenant farmer, was lynched in St. Johns County, Florida, on June 5, 1897, after he was accused of assaulting the family of his white employer. According to press accounts, Mr. Barrett had a disagreement with the family about money owed to him, and the employer’s wife called him a racial slur. Shortly after, Mr. Barrett was accused of attacking them and their children. While officers were transporting Mr. Barrett to the local magistrate, a mob of twelve armed, masked white men abducted him in the Orangedale area, and hanged him from an oak tree along the riverbank in a nearby wooded area, the press reported statements by Mr. Barrett as a “confession," and as evidence that he deserved his fate. During this era of racial terror, black people who questioned or challenged their employers about unfair treatment were often subject to violent responses. Moreover, accusations against black people were rarely subject to scrutiny, therefore, in many cases the mere suggestion of black-on-white misconduct provoked mob violence and lynchings before the judicial system could or would act. Police officers, who were charged with protecting those in their custody, rarely used force to resist white lynch mobs intent on killing black people. Like nearly all documented lynching victims, Isaac Barrett never had the chance to defend himself in a court of law, and was killed without a trial., Racial Violence in America . Thousands of black people were the victims of racial terror lynching in the United States between 1877 and 1950. The lynching of African Americans during this era was a form of racial terrorism intended to intimidate black people and enforce racial hierarchy and segregation. After the Civil War, violent resistance to equal rights for African Americans and an ideology of white supremacy led to fatal violence against black women, men, and children accused of violating social customs, engaging in interracial relationships, or committing crimes. Community leaders who spoke against this violence were themselves often targeted by mobs. Racial terror lynching became the most public and notorious form of subordination directed at black people and was frequently tolerated or even supported by law enforcement and elected officials. White mobs were usually permitted to engage in brutal violence with impunity. Many black people were pulled out of jails or given over to mobs by law enforcement officials who were legally required to protect them. Terror lynchings often included burnings and mutilation, sometimes in front of crowds numbering in the thousands. Many names of those whose lives were claimed by these acts of violence were not recorded and will never be known, but over 300 racial terror lynchings have been documented in Florida alone, at least 20 having taken place in the northeastern corner of the state and one in St. Johns County.