1. Mob violence is violence acted upon by
a mob, which is an out of control crowd usually acting on emotion. Another definition found is related strongly
to mob violence, in the form of a riot: a disturbance of the peace by several
persons, assembled and acting with a common intent in executing a lawful or
unlawful enterprise in a violent and turbulent manner. (http://legal-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/Mob+violence) Two examples include rioting and lynching.
It exists because groups of people
gather, forming a crowd, and then an individual, or group of individuals,
triggers the crowd to act out violently because of emotions that now loosely
unites the mob together. People have and
probably always will have at least some type of problem with each other and
when this dislike or hatred is brought out in a crowd setting, it can turn into
something very dangerous.
2. At its heart, this story, from 1919 in
Omaha, Nebraska, revolves around an African American, named Will Brown, who was
accused of assaulting a Caucasian woman, Agnes Loebeck. Brown was shortly later stripped, beaten,
shot, dragged, hanged, and burned by a large mob estimated being anywhere from
roughly 5,000 people to roughly 15,000 people.
Two other people were killed in the turmoil: a 34-year-old businessman,
and a 16-year-old "leader of the mob."
During this time period, race riots
were happening all over the place and it was not necessarily out of the
ordinary - or at the very least not surprising when they happened. There were multiple theories as to how the
mob was truly formed. Many believed that
it was actually organized in the shadows by those vying for power and control
in and over the city. Others believe
that it was several teenagers who initially started the riot and it essentially
snowballed to what it became. It appears
that whether or not the Bee (a
newspaper company and also suspected, though not proven, to be one of the ones
who may have organized the riot from the shadows) had anything to do directly
with the riot, its contents egged on those participating in the riot.
After the army had finally appeared
and gotten the city under control, they began to investigate what had transpired. Even though around 300 people being taken in
for questioning, they were all released soon thereafter and nothing was done to
any suspects. However, the people's
faith in the police department of the city diminished despite efforts after the
fact by the police department to swell its ranks and gather riot equipment.
http://www.nebraskastudies.org/0700/frameset_reset.html?http://www.nebraskastudies.org/0700/stories/0701_0134.html
3. This first source is a book that deals
with lynching, something found in relative abundance in the south. However, this book instead focuses in all
areas outside the south, giving a broader view of how lynching occurred
throughout America. Although it's a
collection of essays, it brings to light that such events weren't confined to
the south and that people of all races were victims of lynching. The book also showed the distinctions between
the different areas such as the West and Midwest.
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/listing/2688735275993?r=1&cm_mmca2=pla&cm_mmc=GooglePLA-_-Book_25To44-_-Q000000633-_-2688735275993
The second book I found dealt with
the span of 1949 to 1951, focusing on how mob violence was the center of
journalism and also the movie industry.
The book recites many different riots that happened and the reactions of
the newspapers at the time. It also
showed how the people in the film industry used these happenings as bases for
their own material.
http://www.google.com/shopping/product/6469247183651066542?q=Books%20about%20Mob%20Violence&hl=en&bav=on.2,or.r_qf.&biw=1600&bih=799&sa=X&ei=J09GUeLgEbTJ4AP5uoGoBg&ved=0CJUBEPMCMAc
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