Death Of The Willie Lynch Speech

[XXPANTHAXX]

by Prof. Manu Ampim

Since 1995 there has been much attention given to a speech
claimed to be delivered by a “William Lynch� in 1712. This
speech has been promoted widely throughout African American
and Black British circles. It is re-printed on numerous
websites, discussed in chat rooms, forwarded as a “did you
know� email to friends and family members, assigned as
required readings in college and high school courses,
promoted at conferences, and there are several books
published with the title of “Willie Lynch.�[1] In addition,
new terminology called the “Willie Lynch Syndrome� has been
devised to explain the psychological problems and the
disunity among Black people.

Further, it is naively assumed by a large number of Willie
Lynch believers that this single and isolated speech,
allegedly given almost 300 years ago, completely explains the
internal problems and divisions within the African American
community. They assume that the “Willie Lynch Syndrome�
explains Black disunity and the psychological trauma of
slavery. While some have questioned and even dismissed this
speech from the outset, it is fair to say that most African
Americans who are aware of the speech have not questioned its
authenticity, and assume it to be a legitimate and very
crucial historical document which explains what has happened
to African Americans.

However, when we examine the details of the “Willie Lynch
Speech� and its assumed influence, then it becomes clear that
the belief in its authenticity and widespread adoption during
the slavery era is nothing more than a modern myth. In this
brief examination, I will show that the only known “William
Lynch� was born three decades after the alleged speech, that
the only known “William Lynch� did not own a plantation in
the West Indies, that the “speech� was not mentioned by
anyone in the 18th or 19th centuries, and that the “speech�
itself clearly indicates that it was composed in the late
20th century.

SILENCE ON LYNCH SPEECH

The “Willie Lynch Speech� is not mentioned by any 18th or
19th century slavemasters or anti-slavery activists. There
is a large body of written materials from the slavery era,
yet there is not one reference to a William Lynch speech
given in 1712. This is very curious because both free and
enslaved African Americans wrote and spoke about the tactics
and practices of white slavemasters. Frederick Douglass, Nat
Turner, Olaudah Equino, David Walker, Maria Stewart, Martin
Delaney, Henry Highland Garnet, Richard Allen, Absolom Jones,
Frances Harper, William Wells Brown, and Robert Purvis were
African Americans who initiated various efforts to rise up
against the slave system, yet none cited the alleged Lynch
speech. Also, there is not a single reference to the Lynch
speech by any white abolitionists, including John Brown,
William Lloyd Garrison, and Wendell Phillips. Similarly,
there has been no evidence found of slavemasters or pro-
slavery advocates referring to (not to mention utilizing) the
specific divide and rule information given in the Lynch
speech.

Likewise, none of the most credible historians on the
enslavement of African Americans have ever mentioned the
Lynch speech in any of their writings. A reference to the
Lynch speech and its alleged divide and rule tactics are
completely missing in the works of Benjamin Quarles, John
Hope Franklin, John Henrik Clarke, William E.B. Du Bois,
Herbert Aptheker, Kenneth Stampp, John Blassingame, Rosalyn
Terborg-Penn, Darlene Clark-Hine, and Lerone Bennett. These
authors have studied the details and dynamics of Black social
life and relations during slavery, as well as the “machinery
of control� by the slavemasters, yet none made a single
reference to a Lynch speech.

Since the Willie Lynch speech was not mentioned by any
slavemasters, pro-slavery advocates, abolitionists, or
historians studying the slavery era, the question of course
is when did it appear?

FIRST REFERENCE TO LYNCH SPEECH

The first reference to the Willie Lynch speech was in a late
1993 on-line listing of sources, posted by Anne Taylor, who
was then the reference librarian at the University of
Missouri at St. Louis (UMSL).[2] She posted ten sources to
the UMSL library database and the Lynch speech was the last
item in the listing. Taylor in her 1995 email exchanges with
the late Dr. William Piersen (Professor of History, Fisk
University) and others interested in the origin of the Lynch
speech indicated that she keep the source from where she
received the speech anonymous upon request, because he was
unable to establish the authenticity of the document.

On October 31, 1995, Taylor wrote:
“Enough butt-covering, now it’s time to talk about where I
got it. The publisher who gave me this [speech] wanted to
remain anonymous…because he couldn’t trace it, either, and
until now I’ve honored his wishes. It was printed in a
local, widely-distributed, free publication called The St.
Louis Black Pages, 9th anniversary edition, 1994*, page 8.�

[*Taylor notes: “At risk of talking down to you, it’s not
unusual for printed materials to be ‘post-dated’ – the 1994
edition came out in 1993].[3]

The Lynch speech was distributed in the Black community in
1993 and 1994, and in fact I came across it during this time
period, but as an historian trained in Africana Studies and
primary research I never took it serious. I simply read it
and put it in a file somewhere.

However, the Lynch speech was popularized at the Million Man
March (held in Washington, DC) on October 16, 1995, when it
was referred to by Min. Louis Farrakhan. He stated:
We, as a people who have been fractured, divided and
destroyed because of our division, now must move toward a
perfect union. Let's look at a speech, delivered by a white
slave holder on the banks of the James River in 1712...
Listen to what he said. He said, 'In my bag, I have a
foolproof method of controlling Black slaves. I guarantee
everyone of you, if installed correctly, it will control the
slaves for at least 300 years’…So spoke Willie Lynch 283
years ago.�

The 1995 Million Man March was broadcast live on C-Span
television and thus millions of people throughout the U.S.
and the world heard about the alleged Willie Lynch speech for
the first time. Now, ten years later, the speech has become
extremely popular, although many historians and critical
thinkers questioned this strange and unique document from the
outset.

Full Text of the alleged Willie Lynch Speech, 1712:

"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 of control of slaves.

Ancient Rome would envy us if my program were 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 woods as crosses for standing human bodies
along its highways in great numbers you are here using the
tree and the rope on occasion.

I caught the whiff of a dead slave hanging from a tree a
couple of miles back. You are not only losing a 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 fool proof method for controlling your Black
slaves. I guarantee everyone of you that if installed
correctly it will control the slaves for at least 300 hundred
years [sic]. 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 is there only because it
starts with an ‘A’: the second is ‘Color’ or shade, there is
intelligence, size, sex, size of plantations, status on
plantation, attitude of owners, whether the slave live in the
valley, on hill, East, West, North, South, have fine hair,
coarse hair, or is tall or short. Now that you have a list of
differences. I shall give you an outline of action-but before
that I shall assure you that distrust is stronger than trust
and envy is stronger than adulation, respect, or admiration.

The Black slave after receiving this indoctrination shall
carry on and will become self re-fueling 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
your white servants and overseers 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."

WHO WAS WILLIE LYNCH ?

The only known “William Lynch� who could have authorized a
1712 speech in Virginia was born 30 years after the alleged
speech was given. The only known “William Lynch� lived from
1742-1820 and was from Pittsylvania, Virginia. It is obvious
that “William Lynch� could not have authored a document 30
years before he was born! This “William Lynch� never owned a
plantation in the West Indies, and he did not own a slave
plantation in Virginia.

DIVIDE & RULE

The Lynch speech lists a number of divide and rule tactics
that were not important concerns to slaveholders in the early
1700s, and they certainly were not adopted. The anonymous
writer of the Lynch speech states, “I have outlined a number
of differences among the slaves: and I take these differences
and make them bigger.� Here is the list provided in the
Lynch speech: age, color, intelligence, fine hair vs. coarse
hair, tall vs. short, male vs. female.

However, none of these “tactics� were concerns to
slaveholders in the early 1700s in the West Indies or
colonial America. No credible historian has indicated that
any of the items on the Lynch list were a part of a divide
and rule strategy in the early 18th century. These are
current 20th century divisions and concerns. Here are the
Lynch speech tactics versus the real divide and rule tactics
that were actually used in the early 18th century:


DIVIDE & RULE TACTICS

LYNCH SPEECH vs. HISTORICAL FACTS

Age Ethnic origin & language

Color (light vs. dark skin) African born vs. American born

Intelligence Occupation (house vs. field slave)

Fine hair vs. coarse hair Reward system for “good� behavior

Tall vs. short Class status

Male vs. female Outlawed social gatherings

It is certain that “Willie Lynch� did not use his divide and
rule tactics on his “modest plantation in the West Indies.�

20th CENTURY TERMS IN LYNCH SPEECH

There are a number of terms in the alleged 1712 Lynch speech
that are undoubtedly anachronisms (i.e. words that are out of
their proper historical time period). Here are a few of the
words in the speech that were not used until the 20th century:

Lynch speech: “In my bag here, I have a fool proof method for
controlling your Black slaves.�

Anachronisms: “Fool proof� and “Black� with an upper-case “B�
to refer to people of African descent are of 20th century
origin. Capitalizing “Black� did not become a standard from
of writing until the late 1960s.

Lynch speech: “The Black slave after receiving this
indoctrination shall carry on and will become self re-fueling
and self generating for hundreds of years.�

Anachronism: “Re-fueling� is a 20th century term which refers
to transportation.

OTHER STRANGE FEATURES

William Lynch is invited from the “West Indies� (with no
specific country indicated) to give only a short eight-
paragraph speech. The cost of such a trip would have been
considerable, and for the invited speaker to give only
general remarks would have been highly unlikely.

Lynch never thanked the specific host of his speech, he only
thanked “the gentlemen of the Colony of Virginia, for
bringing me here.� Here, he is rude and shows a lack of
etiquette. Also, no specific location for the speech was
stated, only that he was speaking “on the bank [sic] of the
James River.�

Lynch claims that on his journey to give the speech he saw “a
dead slave hanging from a tree.� This is highly unlikely
because lynching African Americans from trees did not become
common until the late 19th century.

Lynch claims that his method of control will work for “at
least 300 hundred years [sic].� First, it has gone
unnoticed that the modern writer of the “speech� wrote three
hundred twice (“300 hundred years�), which makes no
grammatical sense. It should be “300 years� or “three
hundred years.� Second, the arbitrary choice of 300 years is
interesting because it happens to conveniently bring us to
the present time.

Lynch claims that his method of control “will work throughout
the South.� This statement clearly shows the modern writer’s
historical ignorance. In 1712, there was no region in the
current-day U.S. identified as the “South.� The geographical
region of the “South� did not become distinct until a century
after the alleged speech. Before the American Revolutionary
War vs. Britain (1775-1783) the 13 original U.S. colonies
were all slaveholding regions, and most of these colonies
were in what later became the North, not the “South.� In
fact, the region with the second largest slave population
during the time of the alleged William Lynch speech was the
northern city of New York, where there were a significant
number of slave revolts including the rebellion in 1712.

Lynch fails to give “an outline of action� for control as he
promised in his speech. He only gives a “simple little list
of differences� among “Black slaves.�

Lynch lists his differences by alphabetical order, he
states: “On top of my list is ‘Age’, but it is there only
because it starts with an ‘A’. “ Yet, after the first two
differences (“age� and “color�), Lynch’s list is anything but
alphabetical.

Lynch spells “color� in the American form instead of the
British form (“colour�). We are led to believe that Lynch
was a British slaveowner in the “West Indies,� yet he does
not write in British style.

Lastly, the name Willie Lynch is interesting, as it may be a
simple play on words: “Will Lynch,� or “Will he Lynch.� This
may be a modern psychological game being played on
unsuspecting believers?

WHO WROTE THE LYNCH SPEECH?

It is clear that the “Willie Lynch Speech� is a late 20th
century invention because of the numerous reasons outlined in
this essay. I would advance that the likely candidate for
such a superficial speech is an African American male in the
20s-30s age range, who probably minored in Black Studies in
college. He had a limited knowledge of 18th century America,
but unfortunately he fooled many uncritical Black people.

Some people argue that it doesn’t matter if the speech is
fact or fiction, because white people did use tactics to
divide us. Of course tactics were used but what advocates of
this argument don’t understand is that African people will
not solve our problems and address the real issues
confronting us by adopting half-baked urban myths. If there
are people who know that the Lynch speech is fictional, yet
continue to promote it in order to “wake us up,� then we
should be very suspicious of these people, who lack integrity
and will openly violate trust and willingly lie to our
community.

Even if the Willie Lynch mythology were true, the speech is
focused on what white slaveholders were doing, and there is
no plan, program, or any agenda items for Black people to
implement. It is ludicrous to give god-like powers to one
white man who allegedly gave a single speech almost 300 years
ago, and claim that this is the main reason why Black people
have problems among ourselves today! Unfortunately, too
often Black people would rather believe a simple and
convenient myth, rather than spend the time studying and
understanding a situation. Too many of our people want a one-
page, simplified Ripley’s Believe It or Not explanation
of “what happened.�

WILLIE LYNCH DISTRACTION

While we are distracted by the Willie Lynch urban mythology,
the real issues go ignored. There are a number of authentic
first-hand written accounts by enslaved Africans, who wrote
specifically about the slave conditions and the slavemasters’
system of control. For example, writers such as Olaudah
Equiano, Mahommah Baquaqua, and Frederick Douglass wrote
penetrating accounts about the tactics of slave control.

Frederick Douglass, for instance, wrote in his autobiography,
Narrative of the life of Frederick Douglass, that one of the
most diabolical tactics of the American slaveholders was to
force the slave workers during their six days off for the
Christmas holiday to drink themselves into a drunken stupor
and forget about the pain of slavery. Douglass wrote, “It was
deemed a disgrace not to get drunk at Christmas; and he was
regarded as lazy indeed, who had not provided himself with
the necessary means, during the year, to get whiskey enough
to last him through Christmas. From what I know of the
effects of these holidays upon the slave, I believe them to
be the most effective means in the hands of the slaveholder
in keeping down the spirit of insurrection. Were the
slaveholders at once to abandon this practice, I have not the
slightest doubt it would lead to an immediate insurrection
among the slaves…. The holidays are part and parcel of the
gross fraud, wrong, and inhumanity of slavery.�[4]

Also, many nineteenth century Black writers discussed the
specific tactics of the white slaveowners and how they used
Christianity to teach the enslaved Africans how to be docile
and accept their slave status. The problem with African
American and Black British revelry during the Christmas
holidays and the blind acceptance of the master’s version of
Christianity are no doubt major issues among Black people
today. It is certain that both of these problems were
initiated and perpetuated during slavery, and they require
our immediate attention.

Many people who embrace the Willie Lynch myth have not
studied the period of slavery, and have not read the major
works or first-hand documents on this issue of African
American slavery. Further, as indicated above, the Lynch
hoax is so widespread that this fictional speech is amazingly
used as required reading by some college instructors. While
we are being misled by this fantasy, the real historical data
is being ignored. For example, Kenneth Stampp in his important
work on slavery in the American South, The Peculiar
Institution (1956), uses the historical records to outline
the 5 rules for making a slave:
Maintain strict discipline.
Instill belief of personal inferiority.
Develop awe of master’s power ( instill fear).
Accept master’s standards of “good conduct.�
Develop a habit of perfect dependence.[5]

Primary (first-hand) research is the most effective weapon
against the distortion of African history and culture.
Primary research training is the best defense against urban
legends and modern myths. It is now time for critical
thinkers to bury the decade-old mythology of “William Lynch.�

================================================== ====

NOTES

1. For example, see: Lawanda Staten, How to Kill Your Willie
Lynch (1997); Kashif Malik Hassan-el, The Willie Lynch Letter
and the Making of a Slave (1999); Marc Sims, Willie Lynch:
Why African-Americans Have So Many Issues! (2002); Alvin
Morrow, Breaking the Curse of Willie Lynch (2003); and Slave
Chronicles, The Willie Lynch Letter and the Destruction of
Black Unity (2004).

2. See:
http://www.umsl.edu/services/library...es/narrate.htm

3. For this quote and the general Anne Taylor email exchanges
regarding the authenticity of the Willie Lynch speech, see:
http://www.umsl.edu/services/library...es/winbail.htm

4. Frederick Douglass, Narrative of the Life of Frederick
Douglass (1845), p. 84.

5. Kenneth Stampp, The Peculiar Institution: Slavery in the
Ante-Bellum South (1956), pp. 144-48.

*Prof. Manu Ampim is an Historian and Primary (first-hand)
Researcher specializing in African & African American history
and culture. He is also a professor of Africana Studies. He
can be reached at: PO Box 18623, Oakland, CA (USA). Tel. 510-
482-5791. Email: Profmanu@acninc.net.

Full essay is published in the December 2005 issue of Nex
Generation Magazine.

[Dr. G]

Let me say first and formost that you have done some very good research, and that I agree 100% regarding the lack of authinticity of the Willie Lynch letter. I am not so sure however, that it is valueless.

I agree that this letter was probably written by a young Black male in the age bracket you described. Chancellor Williams says that if you don't ask the right question you can't get the right answer. So my first question would by WHY??? Why would a young Black man pretend to be a white plantation owner writing a letter on how to control slaves? Although the language and social context of many of the terms are completely out of place, the Brother had sense enough to know that if "Earl Jenkins" or "Junebug Johnson" said these things were true that our white supremacist conditioning would lead most of us to dismiss it, because comming from a Black person, it would have limited value. If on the other hand a "white man" who is a "plantation owner",
who's last name just happens to be "Lynch" said so, that the exact same words would take on a true-to-life type significance...which it most certainly has. I like the way Jim Brown's character stated things in the movie "Animal". After reading the "Willie Lynch Letter", Ving Rhams character asks, "is that true" refering to the authinticity of the Willie Lynch Letter, Jim Browns character replies, " the question ain't is it true, but is it real". In other words, was there really a deliberate, concerted effort at systimaticlly keeping Black people divided for the purpose of more effectively controling us? (keep in mind this ain't a college professor asking the question, it is an avarage Black person educated in the public schools of amerikkka) For the majority of the Black masses in amerikkka who know virtually nothing about slavery, I feel the "Willie Lynch letter " has merit.

The majority of us will never do primary research, nor will we read its findings. Whoever the Brother was who wrote this, in reality reached more Black people with a myth, than me, you and every other Black professor in the country has with the truth. I think his idea was to introduce the notion of divide and conquor in a short, believeable (for our mis/de-educated masses) and inflamatory manor so as to generate discussion. To that end he was an outstanding success. For those who are truely serious about learning our history, will find out its lack of authinticity in due time. For the majority of us who aren't that serious, at least we now believe that there was a deliberate effort, by specific white people to divide us, rather than thinking that we are just "naturally antagonistic" toward each other.

Myths and parables have always had their value as teaching tools. In that context, I see no significant difference between the Willie Lynch letter and the bible. While I am not trying to be delibertly offensive to any Christians, I too am a college professor and thus am looking at a document like the bible in regards to historical accuracy as opposed to a theological point of view. How often do we as Black people quote the bible as though it were true? How often do we look to the bible for guidance, or to reinterate a lesson? I personally refuse to allow a student to "quote the bible" in my classroom because it has about as much authinticity as a bag of rocks. The problem is that I will never convince my mother, or father, or grandparents, or the majority of Blacks in amerikkka, for the forseeable future, that the bible is about as authintic as a bag of rocks. And as much as I personally hate it, some good can be gleened from it. So as long as we collectively remain conceptual captives of europe, I feel we must use whatever tools are at our disposal to identify and expose the beast to whatever degree possible, including through mythology.

I salute the Brother who wrote the "Willie Lynch Letter", he has reached more people, started more conversations, and stimulated more discussion about slavery among the Black masses than me and you ever will in a college clasroom.

This was done in the same vein as the "Letter fro the KU Klux Klan thanking Black gangbangers for killing Black people." It was done by a Black person as a teaching tool, and to the extent that it can give a potential gangbanger a monent of pause, its serves as a valuable teaching tool regardless of its lack of authinticity.