Reply #2: IMO you are expressing a belief that was specifically debunked by a well-publicized

[ProgressiveEconomist]

photography exhibit last year, displaying A CENTURY'S WORTH of widely-circulated photos and postcards of African-Americans being lynched by enthusiastic and festive lawless crowds of smiling Caucasians.

Why any law enforcement official would dream of having himself photograhed holding a noose escapes me, as does why anyone would venture to defend such an official.

From http://www.nurfc.org/freedom-forum/index.php/2009/10/sanctuary-lynching-photography-america-opens-january-19/

"Without Sanctuary: Lynching Photography in America

Posted on October 19th, 2009 by Jamie Brandt

The National Underground Railroad Freedom Center and its Senior Exhibition Partners, including BRIDGES for a Just Community, the Ohio Chapter of the NAACP, and the Urban League of Cincinnati, announced today a collaborative partnership to present an exhibition on the history of lynching in America from the 1870s to the 1960s.

The exhibition, entitled Without Sanctuary: Lynching Photography in America, will be on display from January 19 through May 31, 2010 in the Freedom Center's Jack H. Skirball Changing Exhibit Gallery. A Related educational materials and programs will be available online at http://www.freedomcenter.org/without-sanctuary (and at http://www.youtube.com/watch%3Fv%3D_8ZGgVAGS7M ) ....

Without Sanctuary was previously shown to large crowds in New York City, Pittsburgh, Detroit, Chicago, Jackson MS and Atlanta.

The exhibition's centerpiece is a collection of photographs, postcards and memorabilia that were taken at various lynching events in the United States in the early decades of the 20 th Century. These images, many of which were made into postcards and sent through the mail, often depicted crowds of onlookers who appear to be celebrating the brutal spectacle. Although the killings were not confined to a period, place, or race, an estimated 5,000 African-Americans died by lynching between 1882 and 1968.