The Law of the Noose: A History of Latino Lynching

*This is important. A part of U.S. Latino history that is seldom mentioned, studied or considered. Only recently has scholarly attention brought this to it’s due light. VL

By Richard Delgado, Harvard University

… recent research by reputable historians shows that Latinos, particularly Mexican Americans in the Southwest, were lynched in large numbers during roughly the same period when lynching of blacks ran rampant. Few people know this. Every school child knows that blacks suffered that fate. Why do so few know about the lynching of Latinos? This Essay will attempt to answer that question. Part II reviews the history of Latino lynching. Part III explains why it is so little known. Part IV suggests that English-Only movements are a present-day form of lynching for Latinos. The Essay concludes by urging that scholars broaden their search for mechanisms for nonblack groups that do the work of English-Only rules—suppress hopes, erase history, demoralize and frighten, and, occasionally, kill.

Click HERE to read the full report.

[Photo courtesy Mexi-can.org]

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