# Mississippi Senator wants "public hanging" ?? **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [November 12, 2018, 8:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mississippi-senator-wants-public-hanging/824398 "2018-11-12T08:22:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2018, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mississippi-senator-wants-public-hanging/824398/21 "2018-11-13T02:29:46Z")
Missed the edit window. That quote came from here: [Elizabeth Godfrey – A major tragedy at an execution](http://www.capitalpunishmentuk.org/godfrey.html) ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2018, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mississippi-senator-wants-public-hanging/824398/22 "2018-11-13T03:29:32Z")
Odds are it was less dog whistle/bull horn than clueless racism that doesn’t realize why it is racist. But running against a Black man in a state that is 37% Black and that has a history of lynching having your mind going to public hanging reveals the thought processes you may not even be realizing you were having. Espy winning is a huge long shot. The GOP vote that was split between the two running should consolidate behind Hyde-Smith. But this is a special election now on a special date for a seat that does not tip the balance of power in the Senate and that only completes the term to 2020. Weird odd things are possible with who cares and does not care to vote in what would be _expected_ to a _very low turnout_ day all around. Get at least 37% _caring_ a lot more? It could happen … Likely won’t though. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2018, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mississippi-senator-wants-public-hanging/824398/23 "2018-11-13T18:40:24Z")
nm ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2018, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mississippi-senator-wants-public-hanging/824398/24 "2018-11-13T18:44:05Z")
I’m not really in favor of executions at all, but if Sen. Hyde-Smith is that committed to it, I say go ahead and hang her. Sorry, what Republicans want doesn’t usually mean a great deal to me, so I haven’t read the thread. Do I need to? ---
**Author:** ![MikeF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@MikeF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MikeF)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2018, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mississippi-senator-wants-public-hanging/824398/25 "2018-11-13T19:11:44Z")
Much ado about nothing, if you believe her explanation - (paraphrased) “I’d go anywhere with this guy, even a hanging. Because he’s HIM”. And is a public hanging necessarily a lynching? I don’t think so. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2018, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mississippi-senator-wants-public-hanging/824398/26 "2018-11-13T19:51:38Z")
In Mississippi? Yeah, it usually is. ---
**Author:** ![EscAlaMike](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/escalamike/32/4177_2.png) [@EscAlaMike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EscAlaMike)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2018, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mississippi-senator-wants-public-hanging/824398/27 "2018-11-13T19:54:39Z")
> [@madmonk28](#): > > It’s funny because Missipi has a history of state sponsored lynching I guess. “State sponsored lynching”. This term is a contradiction. Do you know what lynching is? ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2018, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mississippi-senator-wants-public-hanging/824398/28 "2018-11-13T20:18:53Z")
> [@EscAlaMike](#): > > “State sponsored lynching”. This term is a contradiction. > > Do you know what lynching is? Lynchings very often proceeded with the tacit approval of state and local officials, who sometimes even took part in the lynchings. Hell, a governor and Senator (Ben Tillman, from SC) frequently spoke in favor of the concept of lynching, even as he occasionally (and listlessly, IMO) acted against it. Lynchings could not have been so widespread and common had they not sometimes had the tacit approval of state and local officials. So yes, it’s entirely reasonable to call many of the terrorist actions against black people in the past “state sponsored lynchings”. Were you really not aware of this? ---
**Author:** ![John\_Bredin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/96bed5/32.png) [@John\_Bredin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Bredin)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2018, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mississippi-senator-wants-public-hanging/824398/29 "2018-11-13T20:22:40Z")
> [@EscAlaMike](#): > > “State sponsored lynching”. This term is a contradiction. :rolleyes: No, it isn’t. 1. NOT state-sponsored lynching: the attempted lynching in a typical TV western, where the sheriff/marshal/etc. tries to keep an arrested person in his jail from being hanged impromptu by a mob. 2. State-sponsored lynching: the sheriff or police chief does nothing to stop the mob, or even actually participates. IMHO, if it isn’t an execution upon a judge’s sentence after a trial, it’s a lynching. :smack: And there’s plenty of room in that definition for a state or its agents to sponsor or condone a lynching. ---
**Author:** ![EscAlaMike](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/escalamike/32/4177_2.png) [@EscAlaMike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EscAlaMike)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2018, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mississippi-senator-wants-public-hanging/824398/30 "2018-11-13T20:28:16Z")
**iiandyiiii** and **Josh Bredin** , thanks, and yes I get all that. We were on different pages as to what qualifies as “state sponsored”. You’re stretching the definition a bit IMO, but it’s all good. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2018, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mississippi-senator-wants-public-hanging/824398/31 "2018-11-13T20:34:25Z")
> [@EscAlaMike](#): > > **iiandyiiii** and **Josh Bredin** , thanks, and yes I get all that. > > We were on different pages as to what qualifies as “state sponsored”. If my response was harsh, it’s because I’m continually saddened by the lack of awareness of how utterly monstrous so much of Southern policies and cultural practices were towards black Americans well into the 20th century. And more than just being saddened, this ignorance (and outright malevolent denial and rewriting of history) greatly contributes to the continuing significance of white supremacism, even as its strength has partially diminished. It (the remaining significance of white supremacism) really is, by far, the worst thing in America, responsible for more death and suffering than any other ideology or philosophy in the country. The MS Senator who joked about hanging is either unaware of this history, and thus unqualified due to ignorance for her post, or aware of it but still willing to make (and continue to defend) such a statement, and thus unqualified due to a lack of concern, or even tacit support, for white supremacism. ---
**Author:** ![Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulf_the_Unwashed)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2018, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mississippi-senator-wants-public-hanging/824398/32 "2018-11-14T02:52:18Z")
> [@Fretful\_Porpentine](#): > > I live in Mississippi, and no, it is not. I wasn’t born and raised here, but I spent yesterday evening hanging out and talking about this with several people who were, at least two of whom were white women in CHS’s general age range. Absolutely nobody had ever heard this expression before, although opinions varied on whether it was an intentional dogwhistle aimed at picking up McDaniel voters, or just CHS being her usual clueless self. (Note that this woman was appointed to her current Senate seat, and the highest elected office she has held is Commissioner of Agriculture and Commerce; it’s rapidly becoming evident that she is very, very bad at politics.) Thanks for this. Very informative–I was kind of hoping that it was an old expression so calcified by now that she really didn’t understand the implications. Of course, had that been the case her response to its being called out would have been very very different… ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2018, 8:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mississippi-senator-wants-public-hanging/824398/33 "2018-11-14T08:06:08Z")
> [@EscAlaMike](#): > > “State sponsored lynching”. This term is a contradiction. > > Do you know what lynching is? No, it’s not. Southern states used lynching as a form of intimidation and terror of black people, especially to prevent them from voting or to push for expanded civil rights. This was not just random mob acts, this was a program of intimidation that was supported by state entities. Lynchings happened in broad daylight were often documented with photographs, yet local police rarely, if ever, investigated these crimes. Southern politicians routinely blocked attempts by the federal government to stop lynching. > [@](#): > > From 1882 to 1968, “nearly 200 anti-lynching bills were introduced in Congress, and three passed the House. Seven presidents between 1890 and 1952 petitioned Congress to pass a federal law.”[22] None succeeded in gaining passage, blocked by the Solid South - the delegation of powerful white Southerners in the Senate, which controlled, due to seniority, the powerful committee chairmanships > **[Lynching in the United States](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lynching_in_the_United_States)** > > Lynching was the widespread occurrence of extrajudicial killings which began in the United States' pre–Civil War South in the 1830s and ended during the civil rights movement in the 1950s and 1960s. Although the victims of lynchings were members of various ethnicities, after roughly 4 million enslaved African Americans were emancipated, they became the primary targets of white Southerners. Lynchings in the U.S. reached their height from the 1890s to the 1920s, and they primarily victimized eth... Mississippi had the most lynchings, with 581 from 1882-1968 ([History of Lynching in America | NAACP](https://www.naacp.org/history-of-lynchings/)) and has a history of state sponsored violence against blacks; perhaps the most infamous of those incidents was the “Mississippi Burning Murders.” > [@](#): > > The three men had traveled from Meridian, Mississippi to the community of Longdale to talk with congregation members at a church that had been burned. The trio was thereafter arrested following a traffic stop outside Philadelphia, Mississippi for speeding, escorted to the local jail and held for a number of hours.[1] As the three left town in their car, they were followed by law enforcement and others. Before leaving Neshoba County their car was pulled over and all three were abducted, driven to another location, and shot at close range. The three men’s bodies were then transported to an earthen dam where they were buried. > > …During the investigation it emerged that members of the local White Knights of the Ku Klux Klan, the Neshoba County Sheriff’s Office and the Philadelphia, Mississippi Police Department were involved in the incident. > > …After the state government refused to prosecute, in 1967 the United States federal government charged 18 individuals with civil rights violations. So you have police and elected officials actively participating in murders, refusing to investigate lynchings and other murders and blocking efforts by the federal government to stop lynching. How does that not meet the definition of state sponsorship? ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2018, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mississippi-senator-wants-public-hanging/824398/34 "2018-11-14T19:48:50Z")
> [@WillFarnaby](#): > > You think you know what is in the minds of these people, but you don’t. I know what’s in the minds of some of these people. Espy is behind and is going to lose unless he finds something dramatic. Setting the lefties and the MSM all bleating “racism” in unison is all they can come up with. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![Rick\_Kitchen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rick_kitchen/32/522_2.png) [@Rick\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Kitchen)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2018, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mississippi-senator-wants-public-hanging/824398/35 "2018-11-14T20:29:31Z")
Google contributed $5000 to her campaign fund. ---
**Author:** ![Budget\_Player\_Cadet](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/budget_player_cadet/32/205_2.png) [@Budget\_Player\_Cadet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Budget_Player_Cadet)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2018, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mississippi-senator-wants-public-hanging/824398/36 "2018-11-14T21:38:55Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > I know what’s in the minds of some of these people. Espy is behind and is going to lose unless he finds something dramatic. Setting the lefties and the MSM all bleating “racism” in unison is all they can come up with. > > Regards, > Shodan The fun thing about this response is, she could literally be shouting “We must secure the existence of our people and a future for white children!” while wearing a white hood and a red armband in front of a burning cross and this response would make just as much sense. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2018, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mississippi-senator-wants-public-hanging/824398/37 "2018-11-14T22:56:00Z")
She’d better just stick to talking about public hangings, the second she ponders the complexities of DC’s real estate market her supporters will abandon her. ---
**Author:** ![Not\_Carlson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/bc79bd/32.png) [@Not\_Carlson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Not_Carlson)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2018, 9:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mississippi-senator-wants-public-hanging/824398/38 "2018-11-16T09:59:51Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > I’m not really in favor of executions at all, but if Sen. Hyde-Smith is that committed to it, I say go ahead and hang her. > > Sorry, what Republicans want doesn’t usually mean a great deal to me, so I haven’t read the thread. Do I need to? Evidently you don’t need to read the thread to win it. ---
**Author:** ![Budget\_Player\_Cadet](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/budget_player_cadet/32/205_2.png) [@Budget\_Player\_Cadet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Budget_Player_Cadet)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2018, 10:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mississippi-senator-wants-public-hanging/824398/39 "2018-11-16T10:39:03Z")
And, of course, given the opportunity for a press conference, the senator doubled down. And then made it about abortion. Fucking really. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/kL34Qhzzfdw/maxresdefault.jpg "All Aboard the Redemption Train: Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kL34Qhzzfdw) ---
**Author:** ![The\_Tooth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c67d28/32.png) [@The\_Tooth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Tooth)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2018, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mississippi-senator-wants-public-hanging/824398/40 "2018-11-16T13:16:30Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > I know what’s in the minds of some of these people. Espy is behind and is going to lose unless he finds something dramatic. Setting the lefties and the MSM all bleating “racism” in unison is all they can come up with. > > Regards, > Shodan That’s the real problem, isn’t it? Not that Republicans are racists but that they keep getting called on it. If you don’t want your politicians identified as racists, tell them to put their pointy hoods back on. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mississippi-senator-wants-public-hanging/824398.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mississippi-senator-wants-public-hanging/824398.md?page=3)