I had a passionate discussion with a very good friend of mine concerning a wide range of African-American and personal issues. During the course of our debate, the Willie Lynch syndrome was referenced more than once. For those unfamiliar with this ‘speech’ I will post its entirety below. After reading, please continue on with the rest of my note:
Gentlemen:
I greet you here on the bank of the James River in the year of our lord, one thousand seven hundred and twelve. First , I shall thank you, the gentlemen of the of the colony of Virginia, for bringing me here. I am here to help you solve some of your problems with slaves. Your invitation reached me in my modest plantation in the West Indies where I have experimented with some of the newest and still the oldest method for control of slaves. Ancient Rome would envy us if my program is implemented. As our boat sailed south on the James River, named for our illustrious KING JAMES, whose BIBLE we CHERISH, I saw enough to know that our problem is not unique. While Rome used cords or wood as crosses for standing human bodies along the old highways in great numbers, you are here using the tree and the rope on occasion.
I caught the whiff of a dead slave hanging from a tree a couple of miles back. You are losing valuable stock by hangings, you are having uprisings, slaves are running away, your crops are sometimes left in the fields too long for maximum profit, you suffer occasional fires, your animals are killed, Gentleman,…You know what your problems are; I do not need to elaborate. I am not here to enumerate your problems, I am here to introduce you to a method of solving them.
In my bag, I have a fool proof method for controlling your slaves. I guarantee everyone of you that if installed it will control the slaves for at least three hundred years. My method is simple, any member of your family or any OVERSEER can use it.
I have outlined a number of differences among the slaves, and I take these differences and make them bigger. I use FEAR, DISTRUST, and ENVY for control purposes. These methods have worked on my modest plantation in the West Indies, and it will work throughout the SOUTH. Take this simple little list of differences and think about them. On the top of my list is “AGE” but it is only there because it starts with an “A”; The second is”COLOR” or shade; there is INTELLIGENCE, SIZE, SEX, SIZE OF PLANTATION, ATTITUDE of owner, whether the slaves live in the valley, on a hill, east or west, north, south, have fine or coarse hair, or is tall or short. Now that you have a list of differences, I shall give you an outline of action- but before that, I shall assure you that DISTRUST IS STRONGER THAN TRUST, AND ENVY IS STRONGER THAN ADULATION, RESPECT OR ADMIRATION.
The black slave, after receiving this indoctrination, shall carry on and will become self-refueling and self-generating for hundreds of years, maybe thousands.
Don’t forget you must pitch the old black VS. the young black males, and the young black male against the old black male. You must use the dark skinned slaves VS. the light skin slaves. You must use the female VS the male, and the male VS, the female. You must always have your servants and OVERSEERS distrust all blacks, but it is necessary that your slaves trust and depend on us.
Gentlemen, these kits are your keys to control, use them. Never miss an opportunity. My plan is guaranteed, and the good thing about this plan is that if used intensely for one year the slave will remain perpetually distrustful.
-WILLIAM LYNCH-1772
Well, it turns out that many African-Americans believe this speech to be truth: that Willie Lynch actually wrote those words and thereby created a handbook of controlling black people today. This speech has been circulated around the web, even mentioned by Louis Farrakann, who termed the phrase “Willie Lynch Syndrome.”
In discrediting this myth, I site information researched by Professor Manu Ampim, currently faculty member of Merritt College in Oakland, California. Pro. Ampim holds a B.S. in African American studies, and has traveled throughout northern Africa, central America, and Europe.
Pro. Ampim gives a list of various reasons against the authenticity of the Willie Lynch Speech:
William Lynch is invited from the “West Indies” (with no specific country indicated) to give only a short eight-paragraph speech. The cost of such a trip would have been considerable, and for the invited speaker to give only general remarks would have been highly unlikely.
Lynch never thanked the specific host of his speech, he only thanked “the gentlemen of the Colony of Virginia, for bringing me here.” Here, he is rude and shows a lack of etiquette. Also, no specific location for the speech was stated, only that he was speaking “on the bank [sic] of the James River.”
Lynch claims that on his journey to give the speech he saw “a dead slave hanging from a tree.” This is highly unlikely because lynching African Americans from trees did not become common until the late 19th century.
Lynch claims that his method of control will work for “at least 300 hundred years [sic].” First, it has gone unnoticed that the modern writer of the “speech” wrote three hundred twice (“300 hundred years”), which makes no grammatical sense. It should be “300 years” or “three hundred years.” Second, the arbitrary choice of 300 years is interesting because it happens to conveniently bring us to the present time.
Lynch claims that his method of control “will work throughout the South.” This statement clearly shows the modern writer’s historical ignorance. In 1712, there was no region in the current-day U.S. identified as the “South.” The geographical region of the “South” did not become distinct until a century after the alleged speech. Before the American Revolutionary War vs. Britain (1775-1783) the 13 original U.S. colonies were all slaveholding regions, and most of these colonies were in what later became the North, not the “South.” In fact, the region with the second largest slave population during the time of the alleged William Lynch speech was the northern city of New York, where there were a significant number of slave revolts including the rebellion in 1712.
Lynch fails to give “an outline of action” for control as he promised in his speech. He only gives a “simple little list of differences” among “Black slaves.”
Lynch lists his differences by alphabetical order, he states: “On top of my list is ‘Age’, but it is there only because it starts with an ‘A’. “ Yet, after the first two differences (“age” and “color”), Lynch’s list is anything but alphabetical.
Lynch spells “color” in the American form instead of the British form (“colour”). We are led to believe that Lynch was a British slaveowner in the “West Indies,” yet he does not write in British style.
Lastly, the name Willie Lynch is interesting, as it may be a simple play on words: “Will Lynch,” or “Will he Lynch.” This may be a modern psychological game being played on unsuspecting believers?
Also, Pro. Ampim brings up the valid point that none of the greatest black historians from Dubois, Equiano, Frederick Douglass, and Booker T. Washington, mention a Willie Lynch.
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