Historical Racist Violence and Intergenerational Harms: Accounts from Descendants of Lynching Victims

• Published date: 01 March 2021
• DOI: 10.1177/00027162211016317
• Date: 01 March 2021
• Subject Matter: Intergenerational Effects

78 ANNALS, AAPSS, 694, March 2021

DOI: 10.1177/00027162211016317

Historical Racist

Violence and

Intergenerational

Harms: Accounts

from

Descendants of

Lynching Victims

By

SHYTIERRA GASTON

1016317ANN THE ANNALS OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMYHISTORICAL RACIST VIOLENCE AND INTERGENERATIONAL HARMS

research-article2021

African Americans are disproportionately victimized by

various forms of racialized violence. This long-standing

reality is rooted in America’s history of racist violence,

one manifestation being racial lynchings. This article

investigates the long-term, intergenerational conse-

quences of racial lynchings by centering the voices and

experiences of victims’ families. The data comprise in-

depth interviews with twenty-two descendants of

twenty-two victims lynched between 1883 and 1972 in

the U.S. South. I employed a multistage qualitative

analysis, revealing three main domains of harmful

impacts: psychological, familial, and economic. The

findings underscore that racist violence has imposed

harm beyond victims and for many decades and gen-

erations after the violent event. These long-term, inter-

generational harms, especially if multiplied across

countless incidents, can fundamentally impact the well-

being of individuals, families, and communities as well

as contribute to structural and macrolevel forces.

Findings from this study have implications for research,

policy, and practice, including efforts toward redress

and reparations.

Keywords: families; intergenerational trauma; trauma;

lynchings; racial violence; reparations

Throughout U.S. history, Black Americans

have been disproportionately victimized by

varied forms of violence, including the most

dramatic: racial lynchings. The impacts of such

racist terrorism have reverberated beyond vic-

tims and extended to families, communities,

and broader society, leaving long-term and

intergenerational impressions while imposing

Shytierra Gaston is an assistant professor in the

Department of Criminal Justice and Criminology at

Georgia State University. She uses quantitative and

qualitative methodologies to investigate issues related

to race, crime, and criminal (in)justice as well as correc-

tions, prisoner reentry, and collateral consequences of

criminal justice contact. Recent scholarship can be

found in Criminology, Crime & Delinquency, Criminal

Justice & Behavior, Urban Affairs Review, and

Homicide Studies.

Correspondence: sgaston9@gsu.edu