On Jun 23, 2007, at 8:30 PM, gcg wrote: > While there has been some discussion as to an urban legend that the > word > picnic is derived from the term "pick a ni$$er," one can say that > this is > not the case. Yet, with the majority of myths circulating if one > digs deep > enough the is a modicum of truth that is usually wrapped in a lie. > > As genealogists, both amateur and professional, it is our duty to > seek the > truth. The word picnic does have a connection not to derogatory > terms about > African Americans. But, it does have a connection to derogatory > actions and > terrorism done to African Americans. > > The lynching of African slave descendants in the South especially > during the > post "Reconstruction" era and the days of the "Jim Crow" laws took > on morbid > carnival atmospheres including picnics, picture taking, and > postcards. These > are no urban legends. The work picnic can be considered derogatory > as these > public spectacles and historical proof in the words of the terrorists > themselves are preserved for the whole world to see. ...snip... > > So now you know the rest of the story, and have a good picnic or > barbeque > even though it is now illegal to watch a ni$$er swing. I cringed when I read that last paragraph, although I understand the context in which it was used. I find it laudatory that perceptions of the use of such terms have changed for the better in the last 40 years for the vast majority of Americans. But, I do have to question whether it was ever legal to watch a lynching. Lynching was murder, pure and simple. The vast crowds so memorialized in those macabre photos and postcards would today presumably be charged as accessories. Would I be correct in assuming that laws were written outlawing the watching of lynching as a response to it? Lyle Browning