“I don’t think we can create a generation of people in this country who are truly free, who are unburdened by this legacy and this history of racial terror, until we do the hard work of truth-telling. In bringing EJI’s work to a wider audience, we hope to give all of us an opportunity to address our past and be part of the work of building a more just and equitable future.”
— Equal Justice Initiative founder Bryan Stevenson
In the current age of political discourse, the alternative facts and revisionist history are all the rage. Though it may seem as if facts are an inconvenience to many, the truth is what will endure. When it comes to terrorist acts against people of African descent in America, the truth is sobering but necessary to help us all move forward.
The Equal Justice Initiative, in conjunction with Google, is looking to shed light upon a segment of U.S. history that many would like to downplay or even forget. Lynching in America: Confronting the Legacy of Racial Terror is an interactive media experience utilizing deep research on racial terrorism and the personal stories behind them, with the aim of educating online audiences.
Equal Justice Initiative is a nonprofit organization that was founded by Bryan Stevenson in 2016 to make information and testimony about lynchings a part of the mainstream discourse on justice and equality.
Slavery to Mass Incarceration
The myth of racial difference created to sustain American slavery persists today. Slavery did not end in 1865, it evolved.
Lynching in America reveals the horrific story of lynchings in America from 1877 to 1950, a time where conservative estimates state that approximately 4,000 people of African descent were killed by their white countryman because of the color of their skin. The experience also correlates the historic travesty with the current racial disparities and prejudices that are inherently a part of the American criminal justice system.
Lynching in America: Bryan Stevenson
Equal Justice Initiative believes that in order to heal the wounds from our present, we must face our past. Learn about America’s history of racial terror lynchings, and how the effects are still felt today, at http://lynchinginamerica.eji.org.
The Lynching in America site brings together EJI’s in-depth research and data with the stories of lynching victims, as told by their descendants. Through six audio stories, and a short documentary, Uprooted, you both hear and feel the impact of this dark time in history on generations of families. You can also explore an interactive map that includes incidents of racial terror lynchings, as well as in-depth profiles of the stories behind these acts of violence.
Additionally, Google.org will donate $1 million to the Equal Justice Initiative in support of a national memorial to the victims of lynchings in Montgomery, Alabama slated to open in 2018.
