2018 Public Lynching
As I looked at the post of Tyrone Williams on Up and Coming Weekly, it had a familiar tone. There’s the old west theme of wanted posters. However, there’s something more to it. Tyrone is not on the run so there’s no need for this theme. Don’t think this blog is defending him, I believe in holding people accountable for their actions not only legally but also socially. My purposes of this blog is to challenge those in power to investigate their biases and understand the impact of their reach.
When I think of the name Up and Coming, I think of announcements of events in the community or highlighting those rising to higher levels of success. Which made me wonder, how does the cover of Tyrone Williams align with announcements or people excelling? Then, I realized that it doesn’t. This cover is more like the announcement of lynches for the public that occurred heavily in the early 1900s.
The purposes of lynches are to 1. demonstrate power of a certain group 2. send a message to others to stay in line 3. humiliate the person and all that associate with him. All three purposes have been achieved with this cover photo.
The damage has be done. An apology may seem insulting or insincere at this moment. Nonetheless, it doesn’t mean that this media disaster should be blown over. I hope the staff of Up and Coming Weekly receive diversity training.
Possible Solution: There is an HBCU in our community with highly educated and trained professionals. Maybe a team of professors or even graduates students in fields aligning with race ( sociology, psychology, anthropology, and etc.) can do a seminar concerning race and relations. Fayetteville’s climate is diverse but we’ve been highlighted for negative reasons concerning race. Address it and work on it.