The Lynching of Isaac Barrett / Racial Violence in America

Marker Text: Isaac Barrett, an African American tenant farmer, was lynched in St. Johns County, Florida, on June 5, 1897, after he was accused of assaulting the family of his white employer. According to press accounts, Mr. Barrett had a disagreement with the family about money owed to him, and the employer’s wife called him a racial slur. Shortly after, Mr. Barrett was accused of attacking them and their children. While officers were transporting Mr. Barrett to the local magistrate, a mob of twelve armed, masked white men abducted him in the Orangedale area, and hanged him from an oak tree along the riverbank in a nearby wooded area, the press reported statements by Mr. Barrett as a “confession,” and as evidence that he deserved his fate. During this era of racial terror, black people who questioned or challenged their employers about unfair treatment were often subject to violent responses. Moreover, accusations against black people were rarely subject to scrutiny, therefore, in many cases the mere suggestion of black-on-white misconduct provoked mob violence and lynchings before the judicial system could or would act. Police officers, who were charged with protecting those in their custody, rarely used force to resist white lynch mobs intent on killing black people. Like nearly all documented lynching victims, Isaac Barrett never had the chance to defend himself in a court of law, and was killed without a trial.