I also note a significant difference between lynching as racist murder
and the kind of old west vigilantism J South describes: the presence or
absence of institutions of law and order.  In the case of the old west,
it wasn't necessarily that the vigilantes didn't respect the
institutions, they literally weren't available, or were too distant.  
In the places where racist lynchings occurred -- as part of an exercise
in upholding white community standards -- there were institutions which
were either ignored or which, by their inaction, were complicit and thus
abdicated their proper role.

David Kiracofe



David Kiracofe
History
Tidewater Community College
Chesapeake Campus
1428 Cedar Road
Chesapeake, Virginia 23322
757-822-5136