Oprah’s “Millions of Lynchings” Turns Out to Be 4,743 – One of Four Victims Were White

On September 28, 1868, a mob of Democrats massacred nearly 300 African-American Republicans in Opelousas, Louisiana. The savagery began when racist Democrats attacked a newspaper editor, a white Republican and schoolteacher for ex-slaves. Several African-Americans rushed to the assistance of their friend, and in response, Democrats went on a “Negro hunt,” killing every African-American (all of whom were Republicans) in the area they could find. (Via Grand Old Partisan)

Oprah Winfrey discussed her new role in The Butler with Parade Magazine this week.
She shared her thoughts on the n-word and lynchings.

On using the N-word:

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Lee Daniels: It’s a word I used quite a bit, until Oprah sat me down and talked to me about its power.

Winfrey: You cannot be my friend and use that word around me. It shows my age, but I feel strongly about it. … I always think of the millions of people who heard that as their last word as they were hanging from a tree.

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Forest Whitaker: I don’t use the word. Never did.

Go tell Lil Wayne.

Of course, Oprah is a bit off on her numbers. Tuskegee Institute tracked the number of lynchings in the United States. They found that there were 4,743 lynchings in the US from 1882 to 1968. A majority of the lynchings took place in the Democratic South. One in four of the victims were white.

Oprah was a bit off.