Like all things in our modern times, it started with a tweet from President Donald Trump. He tweeted a rebuke to the impeachment inquiry. At the end of the tweet he stated, “All Republicans must remember what they are witnessing here – a lynching. But we will WIN!”
Immediate backlash followed.
One critic, presidential candidate and former Vice President Joe Biden, spoke out against Trump using the term “lynching.” Biden, as it seems to be usual for him, was reprimanded by his own personal history and past statements. In 1998, Biden described the impeachment proceedings concerning President Bill Clinton as a “partisan lynching.”
Lynching, of course, has no similarities to either situation. Lynching was a racist vigilante action by a white mob to murder innocent African Americans. Between 1882 and 1968, 4,743 people were lynched. 72.7% of these people were African American. In most cases, if a white person was lynched, it was due to them aiding the “guilty” African Americans.
These numbers only reflect the lynching cases that were reported. Thousands of others went unreported or were kept hidden.
“Witch hunt” is another term used by the president and others to decry the various investigations surrounding him. This is another term steeped in minority prejudice. Throughout history, whenever women made progress, they were accused of being witches.
In particular, Puritans committed witch hunts against women who went beyond social boundaries. Women were expected to be mothers, cooks and caregivers, mostly restricted to their homes. Any woman who showed characteristics other than this or progressed beyond these roles was suspected to be under Satan’s rule.
Using terms, like lynching and witch hunt, without their original context trivializes them. It not only misconstrues the truth of their history but lessens the impact of the terms.
Lynching has nothing to do with the impeachment of a president. It certainly has nothing to do with whether the president is a Democrat or Republican. Lynching has to do with innocent individuals being executed without trial or consideration of facts. Lynching has to do with the hateful targetting of minority groups. Most often, the lynch mob would party while the body still hung nearby.
“Witch hunt” similarly has nothing to do with the present political situation. Suspected witches had to endure tests. One such test was throwing a woman into a body of water to see if the water “accepted” her or not. Many drowned. The women found to be witches were tied to a stake and burned alive.
Our current political situation, although strained, isn’t anywhere comparable to events in which these violent events took place. These terms shouldn’t be used for simile or metaphorical means. They should only be used when their literal, horrific descriptions become reality.
Both Biden and Trump need to be held accountable for their language. This is especially important as they are both powerful and influential white men. Meanwhile, the terms they used had contexts about violent prejudice against minority groups, specifically women and African Americans—groups they are not a part of.
These terms deserve consideration and discussion in an educational environment. People should be informed of their violents histories. People shouldn’t be informed, or rather misinformed, through tweets.
True Dabill can be reached at dabi7280@stthomas.edu.
People should be careful of the words they choose, that is true. That includes those who publish their words in any capacity. Like people who say that along race and gender lines. Suggesting that anyone should or should not do something simply based upon their race and gender is….wait for it….racist and sexist. Shocking I know. If you are serious about ending racism and or sexism, you would seek to end it in all of its forms not just the ones that comply with an intersectional hierarchy. Making statements in the way you have here perpetuates an “us vs them mentality” and does nothing to unify and heal divides. The truth is no one should be using the word lynching in a political context, as no one should use the word rape except to describe sexual assault, and that people should not describe everything as Hitlerian when they don’t like something. It’s simple really, hold everyone to the same standard and treat every person you meet as an individual (and one that you don’t automatically assume means you harm) and things really aren’t that bad.