Book cover of Without Sanctuary: Lynching Photography in America

Book description

Many people today, despite the evidence, will not believe don't want to believe that such atrocities happened in America not so very long ago. These photographs bear witness to . . . an American holocaust." —Congressman John Lewis The Tuskegee Institute records the lynching of 3,436 blacks between 1882 and…

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Why read it?

1 author picked Without Sanctuary as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

Not for the faint of heart, this collection of lynching images bears witness to the extreme violence used to enforce segregation. Leon Litwack’s introduction contextualizes these displays as violence aimed to reinforce white supremacy and leads the reader through the reality of these events and their lasting consequences on race relations. The photographs are irrefutable evidence of how such events must be recorded to ensure they never again occur. Despite the horror of the images within, this book will forever change your understanding of our past.

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