Monroe & Florence Work Today - Extra Resources
Activity 3 » News article #6
Use this example to analyze how lynching violence is treated in contemporary political discourse. Read the following article to be able to answer these questions:
1. Who is invoking the idea of lynching? What is their job/position?
2. Who is the audience (or audiences) they knew would hear their comment?
3. Based on the circumstances, in your opinion: do you think this person knows about the history of lynching? (what clues do they leave?)
4. Does their comment reveal a belief that “some people” don’t deserve the same rights that they enjoy?
5. Does the article mention anyone who reacted to the comment? Based on your other answers, how do you assess those reactions?
Lynched Black Doll Not a Hate Crime, Just ‘Foolish Prank,’ School Superintendent Says
13 Oct 2017. By Asha French, NewsOne Contributor, newsone.com.
Copyright © 2017 Interactive One, LLC.
Included here under the principle of fair use for an educational purpose.
If the article is no longer online, the following screenshot preserves the content for your classroom use:
Lynched Black Doll Not a Hate Crime, Just ‘Foolish Prank,’ School Superintendent Says
The Coatesville district has been plagued by racist incidents for years.
Written By Asha French, NewsOne Contributor
Posted October 13, 2017
A White school superintendent in Chester County, Pennsylvania, told her constituents that a brown doll found hanging in a locker room ceiling with a mouth filled with toothpaste to look like foam was just a “foolish prank,” not a hate crime, NBC10 reported. A viewer reported the photo of the “Black doll” that is actually a Moana doll modeled after a Disney Princess from an ancient Polynesian village. The doll’s skin was dark enough to raise eyebrows in a district plagued by racist incidents.
In an open letter, Superintendent Cathy Taschner told community members that she’d interviewed Coatesville Cross Country team members to investigate the effigy. She said “both white and black” team members confirmed that “this was a foolish prank and the intent was not to cause racial intimidation.”
[photo of the doll hanging in locker room]
Philly Today 📰
@215Today
Doll found hanging by noose at Coatesville Area High School phl.today/29324/doll-found…
10:20 PM - Oct 10, 2017
Taschner’s comments could be part of the district’s attempt to “rebrand” after racist incidents there gained national attention last year. The Philadelphia Inquirer reported that the Coatesville Area School District recently hired a communications firm to improve the its image. A “former superintendent and athletic director were caught sending racist and sexist texts, and about 100 teachers have left” in the last few years.
Last December, Taschner responded to allegations that Coatesville High School students were targets of racial slurs at a football game at North Penn High School, the Daily Local reported. Taschner wrote, “Our students felt threatened and unwelcomed in an environment and event that should be inclusive and respectful.” At a March basketball game, Coatesville High students greeted North Penn students with “candy and positive messages” such as “Spread love, not hate,” the Daily Local reported.
If the latest incident is any indication, conciliatory gestures and expensive PR haven’t done much for the district’s race problem. Though she denied any racism, Taschner did call the lynched doll “foolish and offensive,” before she plugged the “positive” student groups formed to address racism.
Copyright © 2017 Interactive One, LLC.
1. Person who invoked lynching, and their position:
2. Their intended audience or audiences:
3. (Your opinion): Do you think they knew the history of lynching they were invoking?
(what clues):
4. Does the comment reveal a personal belief that “some people” don’t deserve the same rights?
Is this white supremacy in disguise?
5. Who reacted to the lynching comment:
(Your opinion): Do you agree with the reactions, or have other thoughts?
