Vincent Vinikas' Review of Dominic J. Capeci's Case Study

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Vincent Vinikas' review of Dominic J. Capeci's The Lynching of Cleo Wright takes a critical stance toward Capeci's account of the case of Cleo Wright, a black man who was lynched in Missouri in 1942. Rather than examining the underlying causes concerning why lynching took place (particularly as late as 1942), Vinikas restricts his focus to elucidating logical fallacies that hinder Capeci's article. Vinikas argues that it is lamentable that even in books that purportedly reveal information concerning actual lynching cases, the true facts involved in such cases is never truthfully revealed, such that the public is still not privy to crucial information that colors America's history. In contrast, in her article "An Outrageous Proceeding: A Northern Lynching and the Enforcement of Anti-Lynching Legislation in Illinois, 1905-1910" Stacy Pratt McDermott applies a more comprehensive approach, determining the cultural forces that promoted lynching and made it incredibly difficult to abolish. Consequently, McDermott's article provides a more thorough explication of exactly why lynching took place and the forces that made its popularity difficult to overthrow.

Vinikas' article begins with a basic summary of the lynching of Cleo Wright. The author provides particularly graphic details of the incident, including that Wright's leg was attached to the back of an automobile and driven through the streets, as well as the fact that Wright was stripped, covered in gasoline, and subsequently burned. The decision to provide such graphic details is particularly shocking, and to a degree, this validates Vinikas' approach in the article to decry how the specific details concerning who was to blame in the Cleo Wright case have never been fully unearthed. Vinikas criticizes Capeci for claiming to provide authoritative information concerning the case while never revealing the identity of the actual lynchers. However, it is perhaps excessive to liken Capeci to the complacent sheriff in the Cleo Wright case: "A practical result of Capeci's posture seems not too different from that of Sheriff John Hobbs, who faced the federal grand jury that wanted to know more regarding the affair" (Vinikas, 1999, p.907).

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Furthermore, Vinikas' rhetoric is confusing; it is unclear how exactly likening Capeci's rhetorical strategy with the abhorrent conduct of Sheriff Hobbs constitutes a "practical" example.

To his credit, Vinikas provides a brief description (via Capeci) of the cultural effect of the Cleo Wright case. He mentions that the Cleo Wright lynching was particularly notable because it was used as fodder for an anti-America campaign issued by Japan during World War Two. However, Vinikas also argues that the failure to address the historical relevance of the Cleo Wright case is the foremost limitation of Capeci's book. Indeed, he states that "Few of the details that Dominic Capeci relates in The Lynching of Cleo Wright would distinguish this atrocity from thousands that had preceded it over the course of the fifty years" (Vinikas, 1999, 907).

While it is understandable that Vinikas criticizes Capeci for fictionalizing the names of those involved, making it such that it is difficult to discern who exactly committed the crime, this perhaps distracts Vinikas from placing greater emphasis on Capeci's deplorable statement that "Wright beckoned his own destroyers, and they complied" (Vinikas, 1999, 908). This statement suggests that Wright was, in effect, responsible for his own death and implies that Capeci is not even sympathetic to the plight of the African-Americans who were lynched. By emphasizing Capeci's apparent dishonesty and reticence in providing specific details concerning the case, Vinikas distracts himself from addressing the flagrant issue at hand concerning Capeci's lack of sympathy toward a lynching victim.

Unlike Vinikas, Stacy Pratt McDermott takes a far more thorough approach,….....

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