Willie Lynch [Update]

[This is the Shit Starter! I tried it on MySpace. Let me give it one more whirl before the rewrite for the book. This is a topic I WILL NOT let go. This is the essence. This is the root of niggardom. If we are to get anywhere in this country, we must get past this. So I will keep poking (in the EYE!) until someone speaks out.]

Posted Date: : Feb 13, 2006 1:53 AM

There's this letter that I have seen over and over circulating through intellectual circles. Most recently it was posted on a friends blog. I have to take this opportunity to further enlighten.

First here is the letter:

This speech was delivered by [b]Willie Lynch on the bank of the James River in the colony of Virginia in 1712. Lynch was a British slave owner in the West Indies. He was invited to the colony of Virginia in 1712 to teach his methods to slave owners there. The term "lynching" is derived
from his last name.

"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 Colony of Virginia, for bringing me here. I am here to help you solve some of your problems with slaves. Your invitation reached me on my modest plantation in the West Indies, where I have experimented with some of the newest and still the oldest methods for control of slaves. Ancient Rome's would envy us if my program is implemented. As our boat sailed south on the James River, named for our illustrious King, whose version of the Bible we Cherish, I saw enough to know that your problem is not unique. While Rome used cords of wood as crosses for standing human bodies along its highways in great numbers, you are here using the tree and the rope on occasions. I caught the whiff of a dead slave hanging from a tree, a couple miles back. You are not only 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. Gentlemen, 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 here, I HAVE A FULL PROOF METHOD FOR CONTROLLING YOUR BLACK SLAVES. I guarantee every one of you that if installed correctly IT WILL CONTROL THE SLAVES FOR AT LEAST 300 HUNDREDS YEARS. My method is simple. Any member of your family or your 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 top of my list is "AGE" but it's there only because it starts with an "A." The second is "COLOR" or shade, there is INTELLIGENCE, SIZE, SEX, SIZES OF PLANTATIONS, STATUS on plantations, t-- of owners, whether the slaves live in the valley, on a hill, East, West, North, South, have fine hair, course hair, or is tall or short. Now that you have a list of differences, I shall give you a outline of action, but before that, I shall a-- you that DISTRUST IS STRONGER THAN TRUST AND ENVY STRONGER THAN ADULATION, RESPECT OR ADMIRATION. The Black slaves 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 Male vs. the YOUNG black Male, and the YOUNG black Male against the OLD black male. You must use the DARK skin slaves vs. the LIGHT skin slaves, and the LIGHT skin slaves vs. the DARK skin slaves. You must use the FEMALE vs. the MALE. And the MALE vs. the FEMALE. You must also have you white servants and over- seers distrust all Blacks. But it is NECESSARY THAT YOUR SLAVES TRUST AND DEPEND ON US. THEY MUST LOVE, RESPECT AND TRUST ONLY US. Gentlemen, these kits are your keys to control. Use them. Have your wives and children use them, never miss an opportunity. IF USED INTENSELY FOR ONE YEAR, THE SLAVES THEMSELVES WILL REMAIN PERPETUALLY DISTRUSTFUL. Thank you gentlemen."


Now here are the facts. Willie Lynch never existed. The letter is fake. The sentiment is real. Slave owners did discuss tactics of controlling slaves with each other much like business owners discuss management techniques today. The system of slavery is over. Black people are still disjointed. Poor people are still disjointed. The techniques discuss in this fictitious letter are still used in business today. It drives not racism but a much larger more important system. In fact racism is, if anything, derivative of this system. The system is capitalism.

Capitalism is what drives this country. It drives the world economy. In order for it to continue. Certain techniques have to be employed. These are the same techniques that were employed during slavery both in America and around the world. In order for there to be a ruling class in this land of opportunity there has to be working class. A lesser class. No one grows up wanting to be a janitor or a servant or anything menial. No one also grows up with their sole goal in life being to make another man wealthy. But that is what happens. And no one ever asks why.

Why are music stars unconcerned about being robbed and making less money than a label owner when they are the talent, they create the music? Why do we get mad at athletes for wanting more money when a talent less old man is making more just for owning a group of athletes. Or better yet why isn't education mandatory for athletes? Who would really want an athlete to really know what's going on with ALL the money that is made in the sports industry? Why is the emphasis on fake weapons and so called terrorists? Why was the richest oil country on the top of the "terrorist" list when it was one of the countries least friendly to terrorists?

The bottom line is that these are all distractions. The techniques described in the Willie Lynch letter are still in affect today with Black, White, and every other type of poor person today not because of racism but because of capitalism. If we are all running around chasing our tails, then the wealthy will just strap us into the system and let out running spin the wheels of the economy. In the end we may get rich but the wealthy will always get more. I know what I intend to do about it. But its really up to yall and what yall want to do. But knowledge is power, so there you go.

Be good babies!

[Update] I really, really need feedback. I know this is a volatile issue. I know people say don't discuss religion, politics, or (something else-I don't listen to BS as much as I should). But guess what...THOSE people DO discuss religion and politics. And we don't because we feel a certain way. And THOSE people who do talk keep the upper hand while we are afraid to discuss something we feel so strongly about...SMH...

We're running out of time. We better get with it!