Cynthia Carr Lecture

The clearest message that Cynthia Carr conveyed in her lecture about her book, written on her familial and historical connection to a famous Indiana lynching, was that it is necessary to own one's story in order to be able to bring it forward. Although these stories may be emotionally difficult, as evidenced by the emotional response stirred in both the audience and the author, they are nevertheless important.

Cynthia's speech took the audience on a journey from her then little-understood childhood memories through her discovery of her grandfather's involvement in the KKK and the journalistic path she walked for 10 years trying to break through the barriers of silence surrounding the entire incident. She discovered that almost everyone involved, White or Black, questioned why she would want to reopen something of this nature. Cynthia described this as part of the culture of silence, in which racial discrimination and violence are actively ignored with suppressed discussion. One of the reasons she offered for this was that it is such a painful subject that most people do not want to revisit it.

She discovered a few things on this 10 year quest; firstly, that no one would give a full story as to what happened, secondly that there was a third young man involved in the incident that led to the initial lynching who was mercifully (and strangely) spared, and thirdly, that no one really understood the role of the woman involved in the incident that led to they lynchings. Allegedly, the three Black youths had been involved in a robbery of a young couple on Lover's Lane, which resulted in the death of the man and the alleged rape of the woman.

Some stated that the woman had been involved with the Black youths, and was part of a scheme in which young men were "set up" to be robbed by going out with her; others, including the woman's stepchildren, stated that she was vehemently racist and would not have had anything to do with any sort of relationship. As far as the author is concerned, this woman remains an enigma.

Her journey led her to speak with a variety of people, including the single survivor of the lynching, the mayor of the town at the time, policemen and their descendants, and the leader of the KKK, the Imperial Wizard. All of these combined allowed her to unearth aspects of her own family history and the history of the KKK in Indiana that were previously unknown.

Unfortunately, despite her best efforts some of the photographs and stories that she sought to find were unable to be procured. Nevertheless, her book provides a way to break the silence of America on racial issues, inspired in parts by the reconciliation movements in South America and South Africa led by people such as Nelson Mandela. These movements offered amnesty in return for the truth on the grotesque crimes that people had committed, providing an example that all of us would do well to follow.