May 5, 2025

Lynching
“To put to death (as by hanging) by mob action without legal approval or permission.” – Merriam-Webster

There might not have been a hanging tree in the 20 Century lynchings of two Black males in Charlotte-Mecklenburg.

A mob with guns. A landlord with, what, a brick?

This morning, Krista Terrell led a discussion of a community project to bolster a local understanding of how the legacy of racial terror lynchings did not just happen somewhere else; they are a part of Charlotte-Mecklenburg history. Twentieth Century history. Recent enough for some residents today to have grown up hearing the story, the stories, of men who killed and were not punished, of men who died “without legal approval or permission.” Indeed, to all appearances in at least one case, a man who died while law enforcement stood by and did not act.

Learn more about the documented racial terror lynching of Mr. Joe McNeely in 1913 and Mr. Willie McDaniel in 1929, engage with the content/resources and sign the Declaration of Support on The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Remembrance Project website  at ItHappenedHereCLT.com/. You can also email [email protected].