withoutsanctuary.org

[qwerty]

I just ended up here while searching on the definitions of "lynching." What a moving and informative film and photo archive.

What have I learned?

I looked up a dictionary definition. "Lynch: to put to death (as by hanging) by mob action without legal sanction. To execute without due process of law" While the majority of lynching victims were black, many many non-black people have suffered the same cruel fate.

Maybe "lynching" evokes a more visceral reaction in those who know its meaning and have seen these photographs, or read the stories, or even worse, heard them as part of a family history.

Jewish descendants of holocaust survivors seem to take "Nazi" related references a little more seriously than the rest of the world. People who have visited a holocaust museum or spoken with a survivor come away with an understanding of the horror and are less inclined to use the words or symbols lightly.

Perhaps Kelly Tilghman should be asked to visit this site. I don't think she actually meant any harm by her comment. It was, at worst, ignorance and bad judgment. Ironically, she was responding to Nick Faldo's comment that players should "gang up on him..." which is not too far removed from that dictionary definition... but forever removed from the actual horror. This web site makes that clear.

Firing Kelly Tilghman would be an extreme reaction for a thoughtless comment made with unintended effect. Certainly, firing her in the face of angry mob demands would be the worst irony of all.

We all have an opportunity to be educated. There's nothing funny about "lynching."