Strange Fruit Part Two: They Want To Legalize Lynching
The return of strange and bitter crops
On February 28, in the year 2023, the Tennessee House Criminal Justice Committee was having a polite conversation about how to kill death row inmates. As they were discussing executing inmates by firing squad, a method not allowed in Tennessee or in any other civilized society, Representative Paul Sherrell had another abhorrent idea as to how to kill people as punishment.
“Could I put an amendment on that, that would include hanging by a tree also?” he inquired. He said it as if he was discussing the weather — in a conversational tone with no shame detected. He added he would also sign onto the crude “kill prisoners by a death squad” bill.
I must admit I did not watch the entire meeting — I was unable to find a source that contained it. However, nobody immediately told Sherrell to shut the fuck up when they were morally obligated to do so, which would have been when Sherrell said the words, “hanging by a tree.” Perhaps this is because we are talking about a group of people who want people to be killed by a firing squad. Sherrell released a fauxpology the next day, saying he used “poor judgment” in making his comments. Indeed, he used poor judgment — people typically hide their sadistic racist ideas. He said he was sorry “to anyone who…
