The Red Record: Tabulated Statistics and Alleged Causes of Lynching in the United States

In 1956, Southern author William Faulkner penned the now-famous “Letter to a Northern Editor,” which was published in LIFE Magazine. The letter urges Northern citizens to be patient with Southerners as they grow accustomed to desegregation and a new understanding of civil rights: “Stop now for a moment. You have shown the Southerner what you can do and what you will do if nec­essary; give him a space in which to get his breath and assimilate that knowledge” (Faulkner, William. “Letter to Northern Editor.” LIFE Magazine, 5 Mar. 1956). The civil rights movement demanded follow-through on the promises outlined by the Emancipation Proclamation almost 100 years earlier, yet Faulkner felt that Southerners were not ready to relinquish their dream of Antebellum life.

Faulkner’s plea for patience echoes concerns immediately following the Emancipation Proclamation during the Reconstruction era, which lasted from 1861 to 1877, although some historians argue the period lasted much longer. Through violence and turmoil, the Civil War ushered in a new period in American history and an end to slavery. The country was now responsible for finding a way to absorb millions of formerly enslaved individuals into the structural systems that previously excluded them.