http://www.alternet.org/news-amp-politics/yes-isis-burned-man-alive-white-americans-did-same-thing-thousands-black-people
ISIS's burning alive of Muadh al Kasasbeh has been denounced as an
act of savagery, barbarism, and wanton cruelty--one from the "dark ages"
and not of the modern world.
American Exceptionalism blinds those who share its gaze to uncomfortable facts and truths about their own country.
For
almost a century, the United States practiced a unique cultural ritual
that was as least as gruesome as the "medieval" punishments meted out by
ISIS against its foes.
What is now known as "spectacular
lynching" involved the ceremonial torture, murder--and yes, burning
alive--of black Americans by whites. Like ISIS's use of digital media to
circulate images of the torturous death of Muadh al Kasasbeh by fire, the spectacular lynchings of the black body were shared via postcards and other media.
In fact, the burned to death images of the black body were a form of mass culture in 19th and 20th century America.
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