in the South and Athens, Georgia
Racism, the Ku Klux Klan and John Lee Eberhardt
There are a lot of people in America today still trying to buy a new world with old Confederate bills… It is just possible that old answers which seemed “true” in the tight, rigid frame of the southern past are based on assumptions that are no longer valid. It is just possible that the white man is no longer the center of the universe.
On the night of February 16, 1921, a crowd gathered around John Lee Eberhardt in Watkinsville, Georgia. Earlier in the evening some of those in the crowd had pulled Eberhardt from his jail cell in the Clarke County courthouse and taken him into Oconee County. The newspapers of the day recorded the number of spectators as anywhere between 2,000 and 7,000.2 Whatever the number of spectators may have been, they all cheered with sadistic glee as Eberhardt was tied to a tree, tortured and burned alive. He was executed in this fashion because he matched the main characteristics used to describe the suspect of a sketchy crime that had taken place near that very spot earlier in the day. The evidence was that John Lee Eberhardt was black.
The dawn of the twentieth century saw Athens, Georgia as a seemingly peaceful college town. Segregated by Jim Crow, the citizens of the city knew their places. There were the merchants of the city and the workers of the factories. There were the women’s social groups and the men’s clubs. There was the white part of town and the black part of town. There was a white society and a black society. Rigid separation of native-born whites who claimed the banner of Southern heritage and anyone else who did not fit into this category were characteristics of Athens, the South, and the whole of the United States.3 From coast to coast, economic and social opportunities were limited for Jewish, black, immigrant, or Catholic citizens. This was a product of the post-Reconstruction heritage that had nurtured the prejudices and racism of the previous generations and formed a new social structure based upon the tradition and ignorance of ethnocentrism.
Reconciliation between the rhetoric of youth and the experiences that come with a maturing of the mind and body is a difficult thing to come about. In the early twentieth century, a generation of Americans was trying to accommodate what they saw surrounding them and what they had been told in their youth. They had been born into a culture of racism. It was a society where individual achievements were not recognized, but a group of people was looked upon as inherently inferior. “Nigger” had been a common word in many of their vocabularies from the time they were able to speak. However, they saw a world around them filled with black citizens. African-Americas in Athens actually enjoyed a higher wage than workers of both races from other parts of the state and nation.4 This seemed to be a threat to the white way of life. The seizing of economic and social opportunities by people of color was a threat to the time proven order of a white society. Whites were no longer the center of social, economic, or political power in the nation. Because of the nature of this supposed intrusion upon whites by the black culture in general, an answer by a significant number of the white group as a whole was the only course of action seemingly appropriate. Intimidation and violence had worked when employed by the previous generations, therefore it would most assuredly work this time. Considering the span of race relations throughout the course of American history, the opposition to the advancement of the African-American has come from an increasingly smaller portion of the people. Organized and executed in different forms, perhaps the most powerful and intimidating of the oppressive racist institutions ever in place to suppress the advancement of the African-American was the Ku Klux Klan.
Racism is not unique to the American South or to the whole of the nation. It has persisted throughout the progression of American intellectual history.5 Many of the founding fathers were slave owners. They were representing their own thoughts in addition to the thoughts of their states when they insisted that slaves not be counted as whole citizens. As a result, the South was inhabited by what the national government officially recognized as workers who were inferior or less than human. This belief was due to the limited experience the white Americans had with their darker skinned counterparts. They had only seen the race in the context of slavery and been told stories about the dark land of Africa from which they came. If Africans were susceptible to enslavement then they were logically inferior to the ones who enslaved them. Slavery was the institution that kept the African-Americans from socio-economic development. It was put in place and maintained by the overwhelming majority of white Americans as a whole. The issue of slavery and the debate over the removal of the peculiar institution are the themes used to define the history of the United States throughout its first century. The final end to slavery came with the ratification of the thirteenth amendment following the Civil War. The war had been fought between the two forces that dictated the development of the African-American. This is where the issues that would characterize the next century of American history began to take shape.
Those who find themselves defeated are often reluctant to admit their own demise. This was true with the states that had committed treason in an attempt to dissolve the ties which bound the United States. During Reconstruction, many ex-Confederates lost all of their political rights. They could not cast a ballot or be placed in public office. This did not settle with the soldiers who had fought in what they believed was defense of their rights. They were forced to sit by and watch as what they thought to be a subservient people was given the right to vote and hold office. Whites felt some form of response was necessary. Intimidation and violence directed towards those with the newly acquired rights was that response.
Originally formed in a Mississippi parlor during Reconstruction, the Ku Klux Klan existed as a fraternal organization for these disenfranchised former Confederates. In the absence of their own political power, their purpose was to terrorize those they felt would vote in opposition to the Klan’s views. These victims were usually black or Yankee. Both felt the fright of the Klan dressed as ghosts who set fire to buildings and spewed forth tales of riding their horses continually since their deaths on the battlefields of the Civil War. At its inception the Klan was not concerned with the taking of life, however it would eventually be used as a means for concealing the identities of people who were filled with pure, unadulterated racism. Interestingly enough, in the late 1860s the Klan’s founders felt that the Klan had served its purpose and chose for the organization to disband. The most well known founder, Confederate General Nathan Bedford Forrest had been a very popular war hero in the South. He had been the only soldier on either side of the insurrection that was the Civil War to rise from the ranks of Private to General during the course of the war. A fiery ex-slave trader and extremely vocal racist, Forrest died with a cooler head than in the days of his youth. He had begun to recover from his racist feelings and was working towards their obliteration within his own mind at the time of his death. However, he had been too weak to be a great voice in the fight against racism and racial violence in the United States.6 Even the leaders of such groups as the Ku Klux Klan can have a change of heart concerning their former hatred.
The form of history that was taught to the passing generation was one of the “lost cause” of the Confederacy. It was said that the race of people held in slavery were an inferior people who had actually been in a better condition while they were enslaved. The Civil War had been fought over the unjust and overbearing hands of the federal government, not over the issue of slavery. The world of the South was still centered on the role of the white man in society. However, Southern citizens looked around them and saw the black culture emerging as distinct and separate from the white culture. As jazz music and other evidence of this new culture were being embraced by an increasingly modernized society, there was a direct threat to the white way of life in the nation and to the innocence of the nation’s young virtuous white women. The black culture, and in effect, the black man was a threat to nobility and honor of the white culture. The Ku Klux Klan did not represent the sentiments of the entire nation. It existed as a sort of caricature of the nation’s mindset, but it does provide an insight into the opinions of the nation.7
The Klan reached astounding popularity in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries with the release of Thomas Dixon’s novel and play The Clansman, and more influentially, D.W. Griffith’s film Birth of a Nation. These mediums allowed for the entire country to gaze upon the original Klan as a glorious and respectable organization which was born from the supposedly real threat to an honor filled way of life in the South. After a viewing of Birth of a Nation in Atlanta, the second incarnation of the Klan came as a small band of white men climbed the largest piece of exposed granite in the world and reorganized the Ku Klux Klan. They donned the white robes they had seen in the film and chose to ignite a cross in the autumn air, bringing one of the most horrific symbols of twentieth century domestic terrorism into being.8 Dixon’s novel and Griffith’s film did not serve to build the fire that would become the altar of racism in Southern society, but they did serve to spark that fire whose flames eventually engulfed the nation in anti-black sentiment.9 This second coming of the Klan would be a more popular and more violent one than its predecessor. It’s membership would include all 48 states, and its crimes would be some of the most horrendous committed against other human beings on American soil. States as far west as Oregon would see the organization of local klaverns as the men organized and acted upon local and national political issues.
10
One of the men who climbed Stone Mountain the night of the resurrection of the Klan was William J. Simmons. He was the self appointed leader of this Klan. The positions he held in defense of the Klan would become characteristic of all official Klan leaders. That they actually believed what they were saying was not simply empty rhetoric in order to remove the Klan itself from any official affiliation with the violence of its members is a position upheld among those who would defend the actions of the Klan as just in the realm of the present day. Simmons and other leaders knew the actions of their members and were merely trying to keep the Klan from record with the violence of the day. In his book defending the Klan, Simmons even went so far as to deny any participation by the Klan in the group violence riveting the South and calling the Klan the “best friend the Negro has.” He claimed that the crimes committed in the regalia of the Klan were done so to defame the Klan by its political opposition.11
The actions officially denied by the Klan were varying in degrees of brutality. The most simple form of aggression towards those who did not fit their vision of America was simple ridicule and disrespect. The careless use of disrespectful racial slurs permeated American society. In fact Coney Island had a game that offered “three balls for five” for the opportunity to “dunk a nigger.”12 These slurs were not only directed at African-Americans but at immigrants as well. A popular Athens ice cream parlor in the early twentieth century, Costas’ was owned by a large family of Greek immigrants. Because they were located in the business district within the city of Athens, they represented a threat to the members of the Klan socially and economically.13 They were the targets of less violent forms of social and economic segregation such as business sabotage, or simple boycotts from those powerful members of the Klan. Klansmen were generally local merchants who not only feared the immigrant and the African-American but the modernization of America and the decrease in community power held by local businessmen. They feared a growing, modernizing America.14 Their fears were manifested in gradually more violent ways. The most common manifestation of violence was flogging. Blacks who threatened white women, as well as men who did not properly support their families were beaten and lashed. This was a way for the faceless Klan to enforce their strict code of life for the South and the nation. The more serious threat to the supremacy and traditionalism of the Klan called for the more serious punishment.15
On the morning of February 16, 1921, two black men were walking along Watkinsville Road in Oconee County when they heard two gun shots. They rushed to where the shots had been fired and found Mrs. Walter Lee lying dead in her yard. The gun that had been used to kill her was nearby. The two men notified the local sheriff’s office and a manhunt ensued. The most likely suspect was believed to be a man who had visited the house earlier in the week to ask when Mr. Lee was home. That man was John Lee Eberhardt. It was believed that he had been hiding in the barn and tried to attack Mrs. Lee, who then tried to flee. The suspect had fired twice, dropped the gun and departed on foot. Oconee County Sheriff Maxey enlisted the assistance of the Clarke County sheriff when Eberhardt emerged as a suspect. As they found Eberhardt’s home empty, they learned he had a friend who was the butler at the Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity house on Prince Avenue in neighboring Clarke County. The manhunt was over when the police arrived and found Eberhardt in the fraternity house unable to escape due to the fraternity members’ knowledge of the manhunt. He was arrested and placed in the Clarke County jail on the top floor of the courthouse.16
News of the murder of Mrs. Walter Lee spread over the two counties and soon a plan was formulated for swift rogue justice. A crowd gathered at the courthouse to demand the release of Eberhardt so they could deliver the punishment they saw as necessary. In their eyes Eberhardt had already been convicted in the court of the public’s racially motivated minds. Their logic led to the conclusion that if a white woman was killed it had to have been by a black man. He was not innocent until proven guilty. As the crowd held the attention of the police at the entrance to the courthouse, a second portion of the plan was taking place on the top floor of the building. Several of the Georgia newspapers from the day focused more on this particular aspect of the lynching than the violence that would take place over the course of the evening. The leaders of the mob had taken a blow torch and were using it to gain access to the cell which caged Eberhardt. This was believed to be the first time in United States history a blow torch was used for a jail break. A new innovation in technology was more of an interest to some readers than the regular occurrence of group violence in the South.17
Eberhardt was removed from his cell and taken to the street below. Reports indicated that his captors were met with resistance by the local authorities, but this may have been more of a formality than any true resistance. No one was reported as injured in the altercation which tends to shed doubt on the level of resistance from the authorities. Eberhardt was bound in the back of a truck and driven five miles to the scene of Mrs. Lee‘s murder. On the way, thousands of people joined the caravan that eventually arrived at the location of the crime, finding a tree on which to tie Eberhardt. Many photographs and records of lynchings show the victims hanging from trees. This particular lynching took on a decidedly more violent tone. When Eberhardt was tied to the tree, a large pile of sticks was placed under his feet. He was given a chance to confess his guilt and end the torture, but he insisted upon his innocence. Some reports say he was emasculated as a particular punishment for his attack on the virtue of a white woman. This particular detail of the lynching is not contained in any record of the day but in many personal recollections of the lynching.18 The fire was set despite several insistences from Eberhardt of his innocence. Some reports indicate that the fire was put out after a short time and Eberhardt was given the chance to confess again, which he denied. Once the fire was allowed to burn freely, the crowd of thousands disbursed.
The evidence the crowd believed to be strong enough for the swift execution of Eberhardt was his presence at the house of Mrs. Lee earlier in the week, and the gun that was used in the crime. Mr. Lee claimed that the gun had been stolen from his home the previous Saturday, and the footprints found in the yard that day matched those at the scene of the shooting.19 At no time was the connection made between the shoeprints and John Lee Eberhardt. In fact, there may be an even more interesting story to explain the evidence. Mrs. Lee was pregnant at the time of her murder. This served to add a new level of tragedy to the story, but also as a motive for her killing by a more likely suspect. The word of Walter Lee was the only evidence used to convict his wife’s killer. Recent study has proven that he may have had reason to insist on the guilt of the lynching victim. Eberhardt had been an acquaintance of Mrs. Lee. In fact, if not for the stigma attached to interracial association, they may have been more than simple public acquaintances. They may have been lovers. This is the belief held by Eberhardt’s descendents who still insist upon his innocence.20 Certainly, Mr. Lee would have the motivation for killing his wife if he had learned that the baby she was carrying was not his. If the reports of Eberhardt being emasculated during his torture are true, it could shed some light on this particular version of the story. A lynching is a more complicated issue to study than simply looking at a gruesome picture and analyzing the alleged crime. Although not all as intriguing as this one, they all have twists and turns that make for interesting stories.
Once common theme in the occurrences of lynching in the early twentieth century is the lack of any real punishment for those involved in the gruesome deaths. Investigations did occur into the men actually involved in the killing of John Lee Eberhardt, but these men were not executed for committing a far more gruesome crime than that of the lynched. This may be due to the fact that entire communities were the ones behind many incidents of lynching. For the 549 cases of lynching in Georgia between 1882 and 1927, souvenirs were produced which included postcards and portions of the victims‘ bodies. A lynching was an entertainment event. The star was the well known victim, but the supporting cast was rarely recorded.21 Sometimes attributed to the Klan and other times to different organizations, these crimes represent oppression by an increasingly smaller group of whites. Jim Crow laws and the lack of convictions for the crime of lynching despite the presence of thousands of witnesses does serve to show that power was held by this group of whites. The Klan and others who committed these violent acts felt the silent approval of their race.22 This too would eventually see a decline as the twentieth century progressed.
The progression of race relations in the United States can be characterized by the opposition to the progress of African Americans generally decreasing in intensity and formality. Lynching and other preferred forms of violence represent the oppressive hand forced upon the African American as decreasing in size and overall power. Although the Second Ku Klux Klan had considerable national and local political strength at the time, it also had considerable opposition from those in power, including the black citizenry. The members of the Klan represented a percentage of Americans quickly growing smaller. As the twentieth century progressed the Klan’s popularity dwindled. However, this was not the end of lynching in Oconee and Clarke Counties. There was actually a more gruesome lynching in Oconee County in the forties, but the Klan did decrease in its organization and the caliber of its members. What had been a haven for disenfranchised Confederates became a place for those who felt alienated by modernity and eventually a place for simple ignorant white supremacy. Whereas a lynching was a group event, the violence that characterized the opposition to the civil rights movement of the mid-twentieth century was less organized and usually committed by a small group rarely reaching over five. These criminals were tried and punished for their crimes. The governmental forces that had upheld the inequality of the races was transformed into an institution that upholds the equality of all men.
As violent manifestations of racism became radically less frequent, those in direct vocal opposition to the African American have slowly decreased in numbers. If the institution of slavery, first on a national and then a regional scale is considered, racial oppression existed in the form of an entire society holding another in bondage. The opposition to the slaves was the white society as a whole. As abolitionist fervor swept the north during the Antebellum period, a dark time in the African-American experience was ushered in. In order to justify the rigid segregation of the Old South, it was necessary to create a belief in the inherent superiority of the white race. This form of thinking would be challenged when the end of slavery came. As African-Americans gained more socioeconomic and political power, the white race was forced to confront its racist past. Some chose to cling to the intellect of their fathers while others chose to incorporate their own experiences with another race into their personal intellects. This progression led to less people believing in the restriction of the African-American. As the Ku Klux Klan organized, the most serious threat to African-American progress was formed, yet even this soon felt a decline and the opposition to racial progress declined in numbers once again. Racial violence in America during the later half of the twentieth century was characterized by a more localized violence involving altercations between small groups of one to five members of each race. These were the numbers in another north Georgia altercation when an African American soldier was on his way through Georgia and found a group of Klan members with guns firing upon him. These men were prosecuted and convicted for their crimes. The opposition to progress was coming from a subculture of ignorance.
Although morbid, this indicates a hope for racial equality in the future. Violence and racism in America has almost run its course. Society has become less overtly racially charged. Social change can be forced upon individuals, but there will always be those who resist. These are the ones who are not eager to stray from the message of their fathers. The best course of action against racism and prejudice in America is education among the youth in order to prevent such ignorance, and the allowance of time for old values to emerge into more modern priorities. The older generations are set in their own ways and should not be disturbed as long as their actions hurt only themselves. To challenge the way a man has thought for almost a century by telling him his own culture is not the center of the universe is futile, but to challenge the way his children and grandchildren think is progress.
1. Lillian Smith, “Buying a New World with Confederate Bills,” South Today 7 (1942): 8,11, quoted in Grace E. Hale, Making Whiteness: The Culture of Segregation in the South, 1890-1940. (New York, Pantheon Books, 1998), 241.
2. “Negro Taken From Athens Jail and Burned at Stake ,” Augusta Chronicle. 17 February, 1921. “Mob Raids Jail and Burns Negro at Crime Scene ,” Atlanta Constitution. 17 February, 1921. “Angry Citizens Burn Murderer of White Woman,” Macon Telegraph. 17 February, 1921.
3. Nancy MacLean, Behind the Mask of Chivalry: The Making of the Second Ku Klux Klan. (New York: Oxford University Press, 1994), 11.
4. MacLean, 25.
5. Melvin Drimmer, “Thoughts on the Persistence of American Racism,” The History Teacher 4 (1971): 20.
6. Jack Hurst, Nathan Bedford Forrest: A Biography. (New York: Random House, 1993), 276-279, 342, 359-387.
7. Colin Gordon, Major Problems in American History, 1920-1945. (Boston, Houghton Mifflin, 1999), 150-151.
8. David A. Horowitz, Inside the Klavern: The Secret History of a Ku Klux Klan of the 1920s. (Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press, 1999), 2. MacLean, 4-5.
9. Drimmer, 18.
10. Horowitz, 1-14. MacLean, xi-vxii.
11. William J. Simmons, The Klan Unmasked. (Atlanta, Wm. E. Thompson Publishing, 1924), 17-18, 97-98.
12. Grace E. Hale, Making Whiteness: The Culture of Segregation in the South, 1890-1940. (New York, Pantheon Books, 1998), 205.
13. MacLean, 78-79.
14. Gordon, 150-151.
15. MacLean, 150.
16. Augusta Chronicle, 17 February, 1921. Atlanta Constitution, 17 February, 1921.
17. Macon Telegraph, 17 February, 1921.
18. Elwood M. Beck, interviewed by author, 27 February 2004.
19. Augusta Chronicle, 17 February, 1921. Atlanta Constitution, 17 February, 1921. Macon Telegraph, 17 February, 1921.
20. Beck interview.
21. Walter White, Rope & Faggot: A Biography of Judge Lynch. (Notre Dame: University of Notre Dame Press, 2001), 232-233. Hale, 199-239.
22. MacLean, 143-158.