"Lynching," Who is Willie Lynch?

"His methods were very simple, but they were diabolical. Keep the slave physically strong but psychologically weak and dependent on the slave master. Keep the body, take the mind."

Many people will remember this quote from "The Great Debaters" when Denzel Washington introduced the infamous Willie Lynch to his debate team during the movie.

A student came in and stated that he had just learned today what lynching meant. As would many, we were all in shock that he had not known this already; the meaning of the word or its origin.

Merriam-Webster's dictionary defines the word lynch as,"to put to death (as by hanging) by mob action without legal sanction." In reality it's much more than this on behalf of Mr. Lynch, the importance of this man is more than this word.

William Lynch was a slave owner from the West Indies. As a plantation owner in the 18^th century society (those of his own kind, Caucasians) viewed him as a business man. He was said to be an expert at training the slave. Lynching is originally referred to as the hanging of a black man, and so the term, "lynching" derived from his last name.

It was called the art of slave making.  Everyone knew Willie Lynch as the "master" when it came to breaking in a slave. He knew exactly how to turn a man into the perfect slave. His technique was to tame the man as if he were an animal. By taming, he attacked the mind in order to control the black man physically and make sure that a black woman raised her children with a purpose to serve only their slave masters.

Although he was very good at molesting the mind, he wasn't shy of old fashion beatings. Examples such as stripping, tar & feathering, pulling men apart; literally, were all forms of his "control" methods.  

Many people say that we as a people are still suffering from "The Willie Lynch Syndrome." Meaning that slave owners used this man's methods to the point that it is now implanted into our blood. Brainwashed & trained to the point that future generations (African Americans) will not know their action because it will have already been embedded into their minds, so to them, it's instincts.

September 9, 2005 Louis Farrakhan spoke about the Day of Judgment at Benedict College in Columbia, SC. He tells of how a mother and child would watch her husband be ripped apart in front of her and set on fire. She would then be psychologically frozen to the point that her children would suffer. Her daughters would be born independent and her sons would be born physically strong but mentally weak (Our young men and women today). Her instincts would now be to protect her son. She would break him in for her master so that she would never have to see such things again. She would make him the best worker her owner ever had because of her fear.

The Willie Lynch Letter outlined what to do to control the black man and you'd be surprised when taking the time to take a deeper look.

"I have outlined a number of differences among the slaves, and I take these differences and make them bigger. I use fear, distrust, and envy for control purposes. These methods have worked on my modest plantation in the West Indies, and it will work throughout the South. Take this simple little test of differences and think about them. On the top of my list is "Age", but it is there because it only starts with an "A"; the second is "Color" or shade; there is intelligence, size, sex, size of plantations, attitude of owners, whether the slaves live in the valley, on a hill, East, West, North, South, have fine or coarse hair, or is tall or short. Now that you have a list of differences, I shall give you an outline of action--but before that, I shall assure you that distrust is stronger than trust, and envy is stronger than adulation, respect, or admiration"

His control was using slaves against each other, making one slave seem as if he was better than the other. We are in competition with one another ignoring our morals and history. Sound familiar?

By using their differences, the slave owner did not have to punish the slave physically when using these methods. All a slave owner had to do was speak down and degrade you, making you seem less than what you were. The Willie Lynch Letter was delivered in 1712 and is relevant to us almost 300 years later! It's relevant because African Americans do not realize that we continue to use these tactics on a daily basis NOT knowing that we are practicing the same tactics that were used to belittle and control us. It is because of Willie Lynch that we are against one another, digging our own holes. Before we start targeting people as racists, blaming society and the "white" man, know that we cannot give them all of the credit for our downfalls, we must take responsibility for our part.