re: #17 Decatur Deb

The difference is the illegal assumption of civic “authority”.

Exactly, and that was one of the most terroristic aspects of lynching— that these were extra-judicial killings carried out with the tacit or open consent and help of the authorities and the community. The help extended after the acts too, which is why allwhite juries wouldn’t convict people involved.

Lynching wasn’t just a couple of good old boys riding around in a truck. It was an entire system set up to subvert the federal government and terrorise the black population, with the collusion of local authorities at every level.
This is what the revisionists want us to forget.