I would refer anyone interested to Suzanne Lebsock's fine book, A MURDER IN VIRGINIA, for further support for James Brother's post below.

In early 20th century Virginia, as Lebsock demonstrates, the evidence cuts both ways.  Officials at every level had good reason to fear that lynchings might be organized, with substantial local support.  On the other hand, substantial numbers of prominent Virginians opposed extra-legal executions, because they correctly understood that they undermined respect for the law.  In the early 20th century, Virginia governors took quite extraordinary steps to prevent lynchings from happening--one reason why there were relatively few lynchings in the state.

I would add, however, that it was entirely possible to oppose lynchings, and nonetheless be quite explicitly racist.  We should not assume that just because white authorities opposed lynchings, that they in any way endorsed the idea of racial equality, or for that matter challenged the notion that "race" was an essential, rather than constructed, social category.

---- Original message ----
>Date: Sun, 24 Jun 2007 11:32:22 -0400
>From: James Brothers <[log in to unmask]>  
>Subject: Re: The Law & Lynching  
>To: [log in to unmask]
>
>An argument could be made that anti-lynching laws were, and are,  
>redundant because it is generally against the law to kill someone.
>
>I would also take exception to the idea that lynchings took place  
>with the full support of the White community (as claimed in an  
>earlier post). They may have had the support of a substantial portion  
>of the local White community, but to go beyond that is unacceptable.  
>And given the activities of organizations like the KKK, some/many may  
>have gone along or at least not objected because they feared for  
>their own safety. While, as has been pointed out lynchings did take  
>place in the North, the vast majority took place in the South. And  
>they were not evenly distributed across the South. To assume that all/ 
>most Whites felt the non-judicial murder of Blacks was appropriate is  
>racist.
>
>James Brothers, RPA
>[log in to unmask]
Kevin R. Hardwick, Ph.D.
Department of History
James Madison University