lyncher

According to the Equal Justice Initiative, of all lynchings committed after 1900, only 1 percent resulted in a lyncher being convicted of a criminal offense of any kind: "The vast majority of lynching participants were never punished, both because of the tacit approval of law enforcement, and because dozens if not hundreds often had a hand in the killing. Still, punishment was not unheard of—though most of the time, if white lynchers were tried or convicted, it was for arson, rioting, or some other much more minor offense."

Youth and strength exists to be despoiled: a woman’s muscles are “grapes of sorrow/purple in the evening sun/nearly ripe for worms”; another has braided hair “coiled like a lyncher’s rope.”

They met more than a decade ago when Read was researching a book he wrote, “The Lyncher in Me.”

On another occasion, she wrote: “I had already determined to sell my life as dearly as possible if attacked. If I could take one lyncher with me, this would even up the score a little bit.”

According to EJI, of all lynchings committed after 1900, only 1% resulted in a lyncher being convicted of a criminal offense of any kind.