I was just curious if anyone has any information about this alleged letter. I have done some research on it trying to trace it as far as possible and the only references I can find relate to various web sites and a speech by Lewis Farakkan (sp?) It is claimed that term “lynching” was derrived from his name. Although in fact it came from a Revolutionary soldier. Also, I found a reference to a book, that contained the letter, that I requested from the library on Interlibrary Loan but it was unavailable. I personally am very suspicious of it. I file it inder the “too good to be true” type legend. First of all the guys name is Lynch, and I have found no references to him other than the letter. While many people in this period probably felt and did this, I doubt it was recorded like this. I do find it very interesting and wonder if anyone has any more history on the letter.
I haven’t found any references to it yet, but I can say that its language, word usage, and sentence structure are, IMHO, too modern. “Foolproof”, for instance, is a 20th-century term. And the guarantee at the end of the letter sounds too much like something you’d hear on a car commercial.
Methinks someone is trying to start trouble again.
Modern spelling. Modern grammar. Modern punctuation. Modern words and phrases. Modern sensibilities.
IMHO? Modern fake. And an obvious one at that.
Snopes doesn’t seem to have anything on it yet, but I’m sure they will soon.
This site, which is also linked in the takeourword article, claims to have started the whole thing by posting the letter on the U. of Missouri-St. Louis library gopher back in 1993. There’s correspondence there from scholars who realize the whole thing is bunk.
BTW, a google search will reveal other obviously modern “Willie Lynch” fakes, including this one.