Dr. John E. Warren – Publisher
Following our story on the “lynching” of School Board Trustee Marne Foster, an editorial appeared in other local print media which continued to repeat all the same old allegations, again without including the rejection of some of those very allegations by the California State Political Practices Commission. The Commission has jurisdiction over the allegations made. The editorial used words like “the embattled” Board Member, giving the inference that there is so much associated with the allegations that they ALL must be true. The effort is an ongoing one to build public opinion against Foster to the point that everyone thinks that she is guilty, without a trial, and should be found guilty in the court of public opinion.
How does this parallel a lynching? Well, first we need a “lynch mob,” a group of people so worked up and convinced of the guilt of the intended victim that they are no longer willing to wait for a legal trial. The participants must first dehumanize the intended victim. This is done by spreading so many lies and rumors about the guilt of the intended victim of the lynching, that those who join the mob, through their speech or actual physical presence, believe that they are now doing a righteous deed. If enough allegations are made against Marne Foster accusing her of abuse of authority as a school board president and member, then the public will begin to believe what it is hearing, over and over again. The repeating of the statement, like last week’s print media editorial in another publication, are intended to remind the public at all times of all allegations. That newspaper even quoted an on-line media allegation from another source as if it were fact.
Remember, the goal of the lynch mob is the killing of the intended victim (in this case Ms. Foster’s resignation). How does this particular mob accelerate the lynching of Ms. Foster? By starting to make statements that she should resign her seat now, without even looking at the administrative remedies that normally would be considered if there were internal issues that needed addressing. This lynch mob would seek to use the faith and good will of the District Attorney’s Office through a barrage of allegations with hopes of getting either charges from calling for a criminal investigation to using the threat of such actions as a means of forcing her from office which is the same as completing the “lynching”.
Now when it comes to the lynching of most Black people, mobs often wanted or want souvenirs to remind them of their victory over the victim. When the victim was a male, they castrated him either before lynching him or after he was dead. If a female, they would often cut off a breast. Remember: by the time of the lynching, the victim has already been dehumanized which makes such conduct “acceptable” in the eyes of the mob. In the case of Ms. Foster, they would want her to resign.
The “shame and acceptance of such a demand” by Ms. Foster becomes the souvenir or trophy parts for the real “mob” behind the allegations, misrepresentation of facts, and the manufactured illusion of guilt. These elements are so necessary to have the public accept the lynching—even though they know it was illegal.
The bloggers and leakers of information from within the school district itself in conjunction with print and on-line media (Voice & Viewpoint not included) are responsible for the character assassination now under way to dehumanize Ms. Foster in order to make the lynching acceptable and a success.
Beyond Ms. Foster, lynchings continue in America today, both physically and symbolically. Let’s see this for what it is.
