Four Hundred Souls: A Community History of African America, 1619-2019

Nonfiction | Book | Adult | Published in 2021

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Summary

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Introduction-Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

Part 5

Part 6

Part 7

Part 8

Part 9

Part 10-Conclusion

Key Figures

Themes

Index of Terms

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

Index of Terms

Lynching

Lynching is the crime of murdering someone—often by hanging—without a trial, for an offense that is unproven and often false. Lynching is the primary means of terror employed by racists throughout Four Hundred Years and particularly in the post-war South. In the five years depicted in the essay The Great Migration, “An African American was being lynched every four days somewhere in the American South” (278). One of the most horrific examples may be that of Jesse Washington, who was tortured, castrated, and burned alive before a massive, jolly crowd who gathered to watch his torment and execution.

The specter of lynching occurs throughout the book, even when it is no longer as pervasive a threat. During the Anita Hill hearings, Clarence Thomas calls the bad publicity, “A high-tech lynching for uppity Blacks” (362). He purposefully invokes one of the most heinous symbols of the Jim Crow era to sway sentiment away from Hill towards himself. Wells-Barnett writes, “Lynching was not about protecting Southern womanhood but had everything to do with shoring up white men’s social, economic, and political power—in other words, white male supremacy” (256).

The 2012 shooting death of Trayvon Martin is also invoked by many as a modern-day lynching, given that the shooter, George Zimmerman, was acquitted.

Riots/Uprisings

During the “Red Summer” in 1919, riots began after the body of Black teenager Eugene Williams was found in a river. In the resulting riots, 38 people were killed and 537 were injured, most of them Black victims of white terrorism.

Riots appear throughout the book as a symbol of outraged resistance to intolerable events. Racists tend to portray any instances of rioting as disorderly opportunism by ignorant criminals. In the essay The Stono Rebellion, Lowery writes, “The distinction between equity and injustice, riot and uprising, hinges on whose hand holds the pen” (112). The protests in 2020 after the killing of George Floyd led to increased awareness of police brutality and incremental yet significant progress in cities across the country, but racism apologists focus solely on the looting and disorder.

The White Lion

The White Lion is the ship that brought the first Angolan slaves to the colonies. It was a contemporary of the Mayflower. Americans associate the Mayflower with an exploratory spirit, freedom, and Thanksgiving. The White Lion is a symbol of America’s forgetfulness and its hypocritical selective memory when describing history: “The White Lion would become one of the most important ships in American history. And yet there is no ship manifest inscribed with the names of its passengers and no descendants’ society” (3).

Both the White Lion and the Mayflower are integral pieces of America’s story. One is celebrated; the other is ignored, forgotten, or unknown.

Black Lives Matter

Black Lives Matter is a movement that started after the acquittal of George Zimmerman in the killing of Trayvon Martin. It symbolizes the ongoing struggle in the Black community, and the resistance of many whites to Black equality. BLM is a lightning rod. The message that Black lives matter is a truism that shouldn’t need to be said. The reaction to the movement in some corners of popular discourse shows that Black lives may not matter enough, if it all, to many Americans.

The Trayvon Martin killing

Trayvon Martin was killed in 2012. He became a symbol of anti-Black oppression and of America’s indifference towards Black people. George Zimmerman followed and shot Martin because he thought he was acting suspiciously. A jury acquitted Zimmerman for the crime, making him a symbol of unpunished violence against the Black community and of a system that does always seek justice for Black lives lost.