Books like At the hands of persons unknown by Philip Dray
Philip Dray’s history traces how lynching became a socially accepted form of racial terror that claimed thousands of African‑American lives in the South and beyond. He details the brutal, often “spectacle” executions, the role of mobs and the judicial system, and the movement of activists—such as Ida B. Wells, James Weldon Johnson, Walter White, and W.E.B. Du Bois—to expose and dismantle this injustice. The book offers a sober reckoning of a dark chapter in U.S. history and highlights the enduring struggle for racial justice.
First publish date: 2002
Genre: History/Modern History
Authors: Philip Dray
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