I begin this morning reading James Cone's The Cross and the Lynching Tree. I quote, with no comment.
"Before he was lynched in Oxford, Mississippi (1899), Steve Allen testified to his "peace with God," saying that "Jesus died on the Roman cross for me; through his mercy all my sins are forgiven. I am anchored in Christ." With that testimony, "he went to his death without a tremor." Before Charles Johnston, a black minister, was hanged in Swainbora, Georgia, "he preached his own funeral sermon, inducing the crowd to sing, kneel, raise their hands, and pray along with him." (26)