Community Complicity in White Supremacy in Lillian Smith’s “Strange Fruit”

Lillian Smith’s Strange Fruit ends with the lynching of Henry McIntosh and the community members’ reactions to the murder. Following Ed Anderson murder of Tracy Deen, the townspeople, specifically the poor white mill hands, seek vengeance and they accuse Henry of murdering Tracy because Henry moved Tracy’s body off of the road into the palmetto bushes. The fact that Henry is innocent doesn’t matter. The mob, whipped up into a frenzy and seeking retribution takes Henry and lynches him on the ballfield in front of a large crowd of Maxwell’s white residents. The act of state-sanctioned violence, along with the community members’ thoughts following Henry’s lynching, highlight how even someone who condemns the violence succumbs to it. <a href="https://interminablerambling.medium.com/community-complicity-in-white-supremacy-in-lillian-smiths-strange-fruit-985fa9010891">Click Here</a>