Later they redefined the term so if three or more people were involved in a murder it could be classified as a lynching. Emmett Till was murdered but there were only two men involved. James Byrd was murdered by three men. To call such cases "lynchings" may be effective propaganda but in neither case was there a crowd giving its approval.
This is not meant to deny that these were horrible murders, in many cases involving torture, very often of completely innocent people. Even when the person lynched had committed a crime it should have been dealt with by the legal system, not by a mob.
and that believe it or not on occasion guilty folks were lynched
it was not all Emmett Till scenarios
but I would venture that the accusation of rape of a white woman was one of the main components whether true or not at the time
out west there was also the matter that law was so far away at times which led to instant justice
no matter...lynchings were to send a message and instill fear...a deterrent...and it worked...it would have on me had I been alive...likely
lynchings are not new to our shores either...it's as old as law..or lack of
the white victims of black perps is to me more unsettling than lynchings just in numbers alone
and the fact it is ignored
we (I'm white) should not have to live with that fear
and when I was a kid...long before most here...we did not
I could go to black areas in my 45-50% black hometown with no fear and be met with warmth or maybe some teasing at best...and no it was not because they were terrified of me being white
first time I felt hostility from blacks for nothing was on Subway in Manhattan in 1980...I was taken aback and realized these weren't like my lovable black folks back home
I admit we were paternalistic towards them....but compared to today it feels benign