Willie Lynch Syndrome: Effect on the African American Community

Abstract
The Willie Lynch Letter is a document that allegedly is a speech given by a white slave owner from the West Indies, on the bank of the James River in Virginia, 1712. It has been said that it was instructions to the current day slave owners on how to control their slaves indefinitely. This alleged letter came into print in the 1970s and gained wide spread attention in the 1990s. The brutality associated with this speech in controlling the African slave and keeping him and his descendants under control for three hundred years or more has been disputed because of the language used. However, this writer feels that the methods describe are consistent with the way the African American community has been fractured in their treatment of one another, in his lifetime and history gives a brief analysis of the difference skin color has played in the African American community.

Willie Lynch Syndrome: Its effect on the African American community, past and present. Reasonably account of the treatment of a race of people or hoax? Is this a reason for reparations?

….there is a document that has been discussed among African Americans since before my time. This document was entitled the Willie Lynch Letter and the making of a slave, published by Lushena Books. The letter was in fact a speech reportedly delivered by a white slave owner from the West Indies, William Lynch, on the bank of the James River in 1712, where he announced: I am here to help you solve some of your problems with slaves. You are losing valuable stock by hangings, you are having uprisings, slaves are running away, your crops are sometimes left in the field for maximum profit, you suffer occasional fires and your animals are killed. I have a foolproof method for controlling your Black slaves. I guarantee every one of you that if installed correctly, it will control the slaves for at least 300 years. Take the differences and make them bigger. I use fear, distrust, and envy for control purpose. (Travis, Denise 2008) The slave master saw everything. The oppressor knows something. The master detected in us the power of men and women to rise up and overcome an unjust system despite the odds. The Willie Lynch Letter is profound because it is a plan.

This was a plan to forever keep a people down and a plan to perpetuate the slave mentality in the mind of the oppressed. The slave master wanted children to be born into a situation where they would believe that their only aspiration was to be a slave. He could only do that if he conditioned men and women to fight against each other. Not to see each other as equals, but as someone to “get over on.” Unfortunately, black women have suffered cruelly in this division, yet they have a glimmer of hope in our restoration as a people. (Jackson, Sr. J. E. 2002) I HAVE A FULL PROOF METHOD FOR CONTROLLING YOUR BLACK SLAVES. I guarantee every one of you that, if installed correctly, IT WILL CONTROL THE SLAVES FOR AT LEAST 300 HUNDREDS YEARS. My method is simple. Any member of your family or your overseer can use it. I HAVE OUTLINED A NUMBER OF DIFFERENCES AMONG THE SLAVES; AND I TAKE THESE DIFFERENCES AND MAKE THEM BIGGER. I USE FEAR, DISTRUST AND ENVY FOR CONTROL PURPOSES. These methods have worked on my modest plantation in the West Indies and it will work throughout the South.

Take this simple little list of differences and think about them. On top of my list is “AGE,” but it’s there only because it starts with an “a.” The second is “COLOR” or shade. There is INTELLIGENCE, SIZE, SEX, SIZES OF PLANTATIONS, STATUS on plantations, ATTITUDE of owners, whether the slaves live in the valley, on a hill, East, West, North, South, have fine hair, course hair, or is tall or short. Now that you have a list of differences, I shall give you an outline of action, but before that, I shall assure you that DISTRUST IS STRONGER THAN TRUST AND ENVY STRONGER THAN ADULATION, RESPECT OR ADMIRATION. The Black slaves after receiving this indoctrination shall carry on and will become self-refueling and self-generating for HUNDREDS of years, maybe THOUSANDS. Don’t forget, you must pitch the OLD black male vs. the YOUNG black male, and the YOUNG black male against the OLD black male.

You must use the DARK skin slaves vs. the LIGHT skin slaves, and the LIGHT skin slaves vs. the DARK skin slaves. You must use the FEMALE vs. the MALE, and the MALE vs. the FEMALE. You must also have white servants and overseers [who] distrust all Blacks. But it is NECESSARY THAT YOUR SLAVES TRUST AND DEPEND ON US. THEY MUST LOVE, RESPECT AND TRUST ONLY US. Gentlemen, these kits are your keys to control. Use them. Have your wives and children use them, never miss an opportunity. IF USED INTENSELY FOR ONE YEAR, THE SLAVES THEMSELVES WILL REMAIN PERPETUALLY DISTRUSTFUL. Thank you gentlemen.” Willie Lynch Letter The Making of a Slave (2009)

When it comes to breaking the uncivilized nigger, use the same process, but vary the degree and step up the pressure so as to do a complete reversal of the mind. Take the meanest and most restless nigger, strip him of his clothes in front of the remaining male niggers, the female, and the nigger infant, tar and feather him, tie each leg to a different horse faced in opposite directions, set him afire and beat both horses to pull him apart in front of the remaining niggers. The next step is to take a bullwhip and beat both the remaining nigger male to the point of death in front of the female and the infant. Don’t kill him. But put the fear of God in him, for he can be useful for future breeding. Take the female and run a series of test on her to see if she will submit to your desires willingly. Test her in every way, because she is the most important factor for good economics. If she shows any sign of resistance in submitting completely to your will, do not hesitate to use the bull whip on her to extract that last bit of bitch out of her. Take care not to kill her, for in doing so, you spoil good economics. When in complete submission, she will train her offspring in the early years to submit to labor when they become of age.

Understanding is the best thing. Therefore , we shall go deeper into this area of the subject matter concerning what we have produced here in this breaking of the female nigger. We have reversed the relationships. In her natural uncivilized state she would have a strong dependency on the uncivilized nigger male, and she would have a limited protective dependency toward her independent male offspring and would raise offspring to be dependent like her. Nature had provided for this type of balance. We reverse nature by burning and pulling one civilized nigger apart and bull whipping the other to the point of death–all in her presence. By her being left alone, unprotected, with the male image destroyed, the ordeal caused her to move from her psychological dependent state to a frozen independent state. In this frozen psychological state of independence she will raise her male and female offspring in reversed roles. For fear of the young male’s life she will psychologically train him to be mentally weak and dependent but physically strong. Because she has become psychologically independent she will train her female offspring to be psychologically independent as well.

What have you got? You’ve got the nigger woman out front and the nigger man behind and scared. www.angelfire.com/ne/saved by grace/lynch.html There is multiple reference material related to the infamous Willie Lynch Letter. As an African American I can truly relate to the hesitancy of the American government to admit to such an event as this one ever happening. The gates would open and multiple lawsuits would flood the American jurisdictional system. The Civil Liberties Act of 1988, “any eligible individual living on the date of enactment is entitled to a restitution payment of $20.000.00.” This was awarded to Japanese Americans for the treatment given during WWII, signed by then President Ronald Regan. If America recognized the brutal treatment towards people of African descent, payment would range in the trillions. Strategies for overcoming the Willie Lynch Syndrome must start with education. Once you educate yourself as to the reason behind the actions of yourself and others, you can develop a plan of action to correct the psychological damage done to a race of people. Knowledge is power.

Overcoming This Syndrome: Originally, we believed our problems were the actual conditions that we faced as a people. We found out that conditions such as, the highest unemployment, the lowest income, the highest crime rate, the lowest health rate, etc., are merely symptoms of an overall problem. Identifying the real problem is the first step toward a solution. The real problem facing people of African descent, according to Dr. Edward Robinson, Jr., the author of the powerful book, “The Journey of the Songhai People”, is that we and others have been programmed to hate everything African about ourselves. The Willie Lynch story is a wonderful example of methods used to get us to hate everything African about ourselves which automatically led to mistrust and low self-esteem and even lower race-esteem. We believe that the “Willie Lynch” syndrome is alive today and acts much like a computer chip. We call it a “Willie Chip”. This “Willie Chip” is in every person of African descent. The only question is whether the chip has been somewhat deactivated. The only known way to de-activate this “Willie Chip” is to Raise our African consciousness. Strategy

1. The effort or movement must be led by an institution which is organized for perpetuity. 2. This institution must correctly define the Problem. There can be no possible solution until the actual problem is determined. 3. This institution must embrace and organize around a African philosophy without apology. 4. It must identify those people of African descent who know they currently do not have True Freedom, and want to do something about it. 5. It must continually raise the African consciousness of these willing participants. 6. This institution must effectively deal with re-directing more of the consumption spending of people of African descent back to themselves. 7. It must feature a way for participants to earn money while working to obtain our True Freedom. 8. It must be a global effort, ultimately dealing with people of African descent worldwide . (“Overcoming the Willie Lynch Syndrome,” 1995)

In order to defeat the self-defeating behavior created by the European Slave Trade, people of African descent must look to their history before slavery, they must realize that history has purposely falsified records in order to dominate and manipulate a race of people, in to thinking that they are worthless, lazy, and lack self-esteem and self-efficacy. Because it was in North America that the infamous letter originated, you can see the history of a nation that showed the world that to be black was to be looked upon as degrading and inhuman. Hollywood perpetuated this theme in movies, such as “Imitation to Life” 1959 film, Tarzan with Johnny Weissmuller, showing the superiority of a white man; in a land of black savages, and the original Elmer Fudd from the bugs bunny cartoons had a black character, in “All this and Rabbit Stew.”

The evidence is more apparent if you read, “The Psychological Effects of Slavery on Modern American Thought and Culture,” by Jason Smith (2007). Is the Willie Lynch Letter a hoax or a factual assessment of what has plagued the African American community in the past and the present? Because of the proposed legal ramifications of admittance of such an account, Reparationist would use this document as legal justification in their suit against corporations worldwide and governments. * LaToya Campbell Why is it that sons can always run back home to their mama when times are hard, but daughters can’t? We have to stay out there and fight through our struggles. * Saturday at 9:50am via mobile · Like

* Ricky Mitchell thank you
* a few seconds ago · Like
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* LaToya Campbell Why is it that sons can always run back home to their mama when times are hard, but daughters can’t? We have to stay out there and fight through our struggles. Saturday at 9:50am via mobile · Like

*  Ricky Mitchell thank you a few seconds ago · Like

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References

http://southafrica.com/forums/religion/2764-overcoming-willie-lynch-syndrome.html Jackson Sr., J. (2002) God’s Glimmer of Hope. Journal of Religion & Abuse, 4(), 77-82 Let’s Make a Slave. ()., (), www.angelfire.com/ne/savedbygrace/lynch.html Overcoming the Willie Lynch Syndrome (1995) Retrieved from

Travis D. (2008) A Response to Senator Barack Obama’s Philadelphia Speech on Race and Politics in America. Journal of the Indiana Academy of Social services, 12 (), 1-8 Willie Lynch Letter: The Making of a Slave (2009, May) Final Call, () Retrieved from http://www.finalcall.com Facebook.com post by Latoya Campbell