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LETTERS IN THE EDITOR'S MAILBAG.

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Byline: The Register-Guard

Don't keep silent on lynchings

The U.S. Senate recently voted to apologize for never making lynching a federal crime. Twenty senators still could not bring themselves to sign on to the bill and, to protect them, the bill was passed on a voice vote in the dead of night so no one had to declare their vote.

They missed another opportunity to truly confront America's murderous heritage, because they never stated why the Senate defeated more than 200 attempts to make lynching illegal. They merely acknowledged that those defeats happened.

I have yet to hear a white Christian, conservative or otherwise, explain why whites felt comfortable attending lynchings with their wives and children.

They don't explain why they proudly took photos with the bodies, or why they took home souvenirs including body parts. They don't explain why the post office proudly delivered lynching postcards, or why people would travel hundreds of miles to attend show lynchings, demanding that the victims not be killed too quickly.

Less than one percent of the perpetrators have been prosecuted, much less convicted. They still occasionally occur.

At least the Iraqis who lynched four mercenaries killed them quickly before hanging their charred bodies from a bridge. The next time you feel outrage over such acts in Iraq, try looking a black person in the eye and explain why African-Americans...

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