On the Courthouse Lawn: Confronting the Legacy of Lynching in the Twenty-first Century (Hardcover)

by Sherrilyn A. Ifill (Author)
Key Phrases: suspected lynchers, reparations litigation, violent white supremacy, Eastern Shore, Matthew Williams, Princess Anne (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
Taking the eastern shore of Maryland as her starting point, Ifill uses two 1930s lynchings among quaint, close-knit coastal communities to examine the sprawling topic of racial violence in America. As a border state between North and South, Maryland has been home to some of America's most racially progressive elements (Thurgood Marshall, Harriet Tubman, Frederick Douglass and the NAACP) as well as the most conservative (the Baltimore Harbor slave market, Spiro Agnew and Supreme Court Justice Roger Taney). Set against this backdrop, Ifill's careful work unpacks the events surrounding these two brutal crimes, pushing past the persistent denial of the communities involved to uncover the facts. Ifill presents the players-judges, policemen, lawyers, business leaders and journalists-and reconstructs the complex relations that tied them together and eventually led key members to engender and sanction the execution of George Armwood and Matthew Williams. Ifill's research is detailed, empathetic and unflinching in recording the legacy of these two victims, but also ultimately hopeful that these generations-old wounds can be healed. Using lessons learned locally and on the international stage, Ifill closes this engaging case study with concrete suggestions for pursuing the process of reconciliation through honest regional and national conversation.
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Product Description

Nearly 5,000 black Americans were lynched between 1890 and 1960. Over forty years later, Sherrilyn Ifill’s On the Courthouse Lawn examines the numerous ways that this racial trauma still resounds across the United States. While the lynchings and their immediate aftermath were devastating, the little-known contemporary consequences, such as the marginalization of political and economic development for black Americans, are equally pernicious.

On the Courthouse Lawn investigates how the lynchings implicated average white citizens, some of whom actively participated in the violence, while many others witnessed the lynchings but did nothing to stop them. Ifill observes that this history of complicity has become embedded in the social and cultural fabric of local communities, who either supported, condoned, or ignored the violence. She traces the lingering effects of two lynchings in Maryland to illustrate how ubiquitous this history is and issues a clarion call for American communities with histories of racial violence to be proactive in facing this legacy today.

Inspired by South Africa’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission, as well as by techniques of restorative justice, Ifill provides concrete ideas to help communities heal, including placing gravestones on the unmarked burial sites of lynching victims, issuing public apologies, establishing mandatory school programs on the local history of lynching, financially compensating those whose family homes or businesses were destroyed in the aftermath of lynching, and creating commemorative public spaces. Because the contemporary effects of racial violence are experienced most intensely in local communities, Ifill argues that reconciliation and reparation efforts must also be locally based in order to bring both black and white Americans together in an efficacious dialogue.

A landmark book, On the Courthouse Lawn is a much-needed and urgent road map for communities finally confronting lynching’s long shadow by embracing pragmatic reconciliation and reparation efforts.

“Professor Ifill has written a sobering and eye-opening book on one of America’s darkest secrets. On the Courthouse Lawn offers a compelling examination of lynchings and describes the failure of people and institutions to adequately address one of America’s tragedies. Racial amnesia would suggest we forget this history. Professor Ifill assures us that we cannot—and should not—forget it. This is a must read for anyone willing to examine our history carefully and learn from it.” —Professor Charles J. Ogletree, Jr., Jesse Climenko Professor of Law, Harvard Law School, and executive director of the Charles Hamilton Houston Institute for Race and Justice

“On the Courthouse Lawn is an elegantly written and persuasively argued case for local communities to confront their history of lynching and racial violence as a means of healing race relations. Explaining how Truth and Reconciliation worked in South Africa, Ifill explores the possibilities and offers concrete advice on how it could be widely employed in the United States. It is certainly worth trying.” —Mary Frances Berry, Geraldine R. Segal Professor of American Social Thought and professor of History, University of Pennsylvania

“In calm, objective but no less moving detail, Sherrilyn Ifill’s book provides the stories that illuminate the photographs and postcards of lynchings, the punishment meted out to some 5,000 black people deemed guilty without trial for matters large and small during the first half of the twentieth century. Too late for justice for the victims of lynch law, Professor Ifill urges that an American version of South Africa’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission could bring long-denied acknowledgment to whites and a measure of consolation to blacks.” —Derrick Bell, author of Faces at the Bottom of the Well and Ethical Ambition

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 204 pages
• Publisher: Beacon Press; 1 edition (February 15, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0807009873
• ISBN-13: 978-0807009871
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.3 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #522,090 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Highly recommended!, February 18, 2007

By	AfroAmericanHeritage (Wisconsin) - See all my reviews

In the aftermath of Michael Richards' racist meltdown in 2006, I found it curious that outrage focused primarily on his spewing of the n-word, whereas his casual reference to his alleged heckler being a candidate for lynching not long ago drew comparatively little comment in the white media.

Then again, perhaps it's not surprising. Nearly 5,000 black Americans were lynched between 1890 and 1960, and the prevailing perception in white communities is of clandestine acts perpetrated by a handful of outside agitators and "bad apples." But in reality, as Sherrilyn Ifill clearly documents, lynchings were public spectacles, community events cheered on by large crowds of people from all walks of life - often quite literally on the courthouse lawn, and photographed for posterity. The conspiracy of silence (or "passive postlynching complicity") ensured that not a single perpetrator was ever brought to justice for the heinous crimes, and white supremacy was reinforced.

In the first part of the book, Ifill lays a foundation by exploring the history of lynchings and near lynchings on the Eastern Shore of Maryland in the 1930's, and discusses the legacy of this racial trauma on both white and black communities. The second part examines techniques for racial reconciliation and reparation, including those of South Africa's Truth and Reconciliation Commission, and suggests a roadmap for communities interested in restorative justice, which requires honest and open communication not only among races but within them.

A civil rights lawyer and professor, Ifill's writing is clear, concise and compelling. This is more like a conversation with a friend than a lecture from a professor, and despite the painful subject matter, I found it hard to put down. Highly recommended!

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A must read for blacks as well as whites., March 8, 2007

By	Tony (CT, USA) - See all my reviews

An excellent account of a violent period of African American history. Professor Ifill's research and fact finding accounts gave her a unique prospective into a dark area of American "culture" that many have tried to ignore or surpress.

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars On the Courthouse Lawn, December 3, 2007

By	Deborah Johnson (Abilene, TX USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Sad but true and still happening in many places of America. I have passed this book along and repurchased it for my library. A must read if you care about the future of America and the world.