This morning is the 91st anniversary of the lynching of Matthew Williams by a white mob of City of Salisbury, and Wicomico County, residents.
Over the course of today, modern day residents will be leaving flowers by the memorial downtown, which sits on the corner of Division and Main Street, not a stone’s throw from the spot where that mob tortured and killed Matthew Williams, as well as an unknown victim in the days following, and another young Black man named Garfield King in 1898.
Today is also Sunday, traditionally celebrated as the Sabbath, a day of rest, in Christian communities.
It also happens to be the 76th annual Salisbury Maryland Jaycees Christmas parade, which will route along Main Street, past the courthouse and the memorial in Downtown Salisbury
91 years ago, the mob that took Matthew Williams from his bed at Peninsula General Hospital stood along that same street and watched as a young man was brutally tortured, and his life extinguished. Among that mob were local officials, including Wicomico County Sheriff's G. Murray Phillips and Donald Parks, Salisbury Fire Department Chief Frederick Grier Jr., and Salisbury, Police Department Chief Nicholas Holland. More on their involvement can be found here:
But perhaps the most salient observation that can be made today, as we enter full force into the holiday season which includes the Christian celebration of the birth of Jesus, is that those who lynched Matthew Williams did so in full view of a banner for the Salisbury Community Fund, a banner which bore the image of #Jesus of Nazareth, and the words “He Who Gives All Feeds Three - Himself, His Hungry Neighbor and Me.” In fact, December 4th 1931 was a friday, so a bare 24 hours after taking part in the lynching of a Black man, many white residents of Salisbury who were in that mob invariably sat in church pews.
In the Gospel according to Matthew, Jesus speaks of the coming Kingdom of Heaven, where the Son of Man calls out those who saw those in need and did nothing, saying that to do nothing for them was to do nothing for him…. and just as important, whatever they did for (or to) them, they also did for him.
It is a parable which may not set well with people nowadays, but history and religion sometimes share the same goal, to remind us of that which makes us uncomfortable.
The Reverend James Cone, often called the Father of Black Liberation Theology and author of “The Cross and the Lynching Tree” writes:
“The cross and the lynching tree interpret each other. Both were public spectacles, shameful events, instruments of punishment reserved for the most despised people in society. Any genuine theology and any genuine preaching of the Christian gospel must be measured against the test of the scandal of the cross and the lynching tree. 'Jesus did not die a gentle death like Socrates, with his cup of hemlock....Rather, he died like a [lynched black victim] or a common [black] criminal in torment, on the tree of shame.' The crowd's shout 'Crucify him!' (Mk 15:14) anticipated the white mob's shout 'Lynch him!' Jesus' agonizing final cry of abandonment from the cross, 'My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?' (Mk 15:34), was similar to the lynched victim Sam Hose's awful scream as he drew his last breath, 'Oh, my God! Oh, Jesus.' In each case it was a cruel, agonizing, and contemptible death.”
Today the community will come together, Black and White, to watch a parade and celebrate the holiday season.
Hope and joy are important.
But so is remembrance, and an understanding that the past informs who we are today.
#FlowersForMatthew
#TellTheTruth
#blacklivesmatter
#christmas2022
#holidayseason
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*The WTRI is not a religiously affiliated group but members have their own faith traditions that inform their work and involvement.
** Pictures are from late local historian Linda Duyer’s book “Mob Law on Delmarva” as well as a photo taken by the The Baltimore Afro-American.
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