There has been a lot of discussion recently about honoring Ed Johnson who was viciously lynched on the Walnut Street bridge 111 years ago. I have no problem with a Memorial, however I believe the $200,000 could be used in many more effective ways to help the black community.
In reading some of the comments about Mr. Johnson one would be led to believe there were 10 lynchings every day in the old Confederacy. In fact according to research by the Tuskegee Institute in the 20th century 2806 blacks were lynched. This despicable act was not only committed on blacks but 1297 whites were lynched during this period. And contrary to popular belief, not all were committed in the south, but people in the west and north also were guilty of this heinous crime.
Make no mistake about it, no matter who and where they were lynched one death is way too many. However on this 16th anniversary of 9-11 we should remember that more people , 2977, were killed by Islamic Terrorists in a 2 hour period than black people were lynched during the 20th century. And more people 3061, have been murdered in Chicago since January 2012 than black people were lynched in the 20th century. The last lynching occurred in 1964 and was ironically a white person.
Mr. Johnson died a horrible death at the hands of a hateful mob. However, jumping out of the 100th floor of the WTC and bleeding out on the mean streets of Chicago are pretty tough ways to go too. Maybe we should honor Mr Johnson by dedicating ourselves to eliminating Muslim terrorism and the terrible carnage going on in Chicago.
Douglas Jones