Strange Fruit

Strange Fruit, a song written by Lewis Allen, performed by Nina Simone. Lynchings in the US.
Lynchages aux Etats-Unis.

Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• lynchings
• lynchages
• nina
• simone
• black
• history

[MNHistory1]

I used the first photo in my American history college course. It is absolutely chilling to see the young boy smiling in the front under the African-American boy (this was taken in Texas and the 16-year-old victim was supposedly involved in a homocide--though these charges were often added after the fact and concocted to excuse mob violence). Note that not only were the whites in the picture not trying to hide their support or participation, they were proud of it, crowding in to be photographed

[lpjfrance]

It's interesting to note that you find smiling kids on most of these pictures...

[Koyatrap]

The sadest & most powerful song I heard and this perfect video with it makes the song's meaning heavier. (just a thing: Allen wrote this poem and Billie sung it, it was not a song before she did).

[lpjfrance]

Thanks for the info. ;0

[missmanatee]

the song was actually written by Abel Meeropol...

[lpjfrance]

Thanks for the info.

[beardedartisan]

I'm white, and of course I can never understand your experience of being discriminated against; however, it makes me sad to hear you say "they (white people) think they're better than other human beings". I'm white and I certainly do NOT think that. As far as I'm concerned, people are people and that's it. Racism is still a huge problem in our society and one way to fight it is to judge people by their actions as an individual, not by the actions of their ancestors or race.

[sancwb]

i think human race is a shit. Our whole history as human kind is a joke. So many mistakes.

[lamlyn]

yeah, sorry tall0262, but you are being totally unreasonable, you cannot condemn all whites to hell or see them as bad as a race. civil rights leaders like dr king and even malcolm x as well as people like nelson mandela strove to make comments like yours as irrelavent as the racist comments made by others. they would whole heartedly disagree with you, i'm sorry but its true

[44Daddy44]

Humanity Sucks

[elclairo]

Sorry, that comment's meant for tall0362....

[elclairo]

I'm white and, while of course I don't in anyway wish to demean the hideous tragedy in black history, the above comment is insulting and racist. Not all white people "think they're better". My countrymen (Irish)were considered savages, half animal, not too long ago. This is not a race issue. throughout history one group of people who have power over another always justify their position by dehumanising those below them. It could be a class, a creed or a colour that defined your worth.

[silensvox]

there are times when i am truely ashamed of my race. i look at history and wonder what ever gave white people the right to feel as if they were better then anyone else. to me the most beautiful peoples are the mixed races.

[tummielvr]

No they don't

[Darkasthenight06]

Every race has an evil history. History as a whole is just a collection of evil acts, oppressed people, death and disease. If we were constantly ashamed of everything our ancestors had done then we would have no time to truly live and appreciate the small amounts of good we can find.

[tall0362]

Thank you for this video, truely! As a black man that has spent time in France I love your country. I love your countrys attitude about race. It is very refreshing. All countries have their skelitons but to make our tomorrows better we must not forget our past and ensure that it is not repeated. Thanks again for a very tuching video about the truth. Just like this video is shameful so is anyone today that secretly harbors the thoughts and feelings of the people in this video. THERE STILL HERE!!!