Tuesday, March 11, 2008

Italian Lynchings

(click the strip to enlarge and read it)
Most people are surprised to learn that the worst mass lynching in American history was of innocent Italians in New Orleans in 1891. In fact, they were acquitted by a court of law but subsequently lynched by a vigilante mob.

From Wikipedia: After a wave of increased immigration to the US in the late 19th century, Italian-Americans also became lynching targets, chiefly in the South. On March 14, 1891, eleven Italian-Americans were lynched in New Orleans after a jury acquitted them in the murder of a New Orleans police chief [16] David Hennessy. The eleven were falsely accused of being associated with the Mafia. This incident was the largest mass lynching in U.S. history.

Follow Up: See http://www.i-italy.org/1348/pane-amaro-bitter-world-italian-americans

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