The phenomenon of lynching is one of the darkest and most tragic chapters in American history, as it represents a violent racial injustice that tragically continues to inform the cultural and racial tensions of today. A lynching is defined as a popularly-mandated execution carried out by a group of people, usually by hanging. Historically, lynching has been used as a form of subjugation of a particular minority group in a given geographical area, although lynchings occurred in other contexts in history as well. Notably, lynching was predominantly enacted upon African Americans during the era of slavery and after the Reconstruction period. Victims of lynching were often subjected to humiliation and terror – such as burning, tarring, mutilation and dismemberment – in addition to being hung. Lynchings had an ideological purpose in addition to the obvious physical violence: they were a tool to advance white supremacy, as they were often reported with a detached and even positive tone in the media. There was an entire institutional infrastructure that supported lynchings, and not only was law enforcement complicit in the violence, but society at large was often relatively silent in the face of such atrocities. Unfortunately, the stains of racial hatred and violence remain embedded in much of American history and culture, and the long-term psychological impact of lynching continues to haunt the African American community to this day.