"Holding on to Those Who Can't be Held": Reenacting a Lynching at Moore's Ford, Georgia
Department or Administrative Unit
Anthropology and Museum Studies
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
11-8-2010
Journal
Southern Spaces
Abstract
Each year since 2005, a group of multiracial activists has reenacted a lynching at Moore’s Ford in rural Georgia in which four young African Americans were murdered in 1946. The stated purpose of the reenactment is to campaign for prosecution of surviving perpetrators and more broadly to call attention to the long national history of violence against persons of color. At more nuanced levels the annual performance speaks to relations between generations, and between the living and the dead. As a ritual enacted by local people, each performance bridges experiences of racial violence and injustice while raising the promise of reconciliation.
Recommended Citation
Auslander, M. (2010). "Holding on to those who can't be held": Reenacting a lynching at Moore's Ford, Georgia. Southern Spaces. DOI: 10.18737/M7DK6D