On the show I recorded tonight, I suggested folks "do a Google Search on Duluth and Lynching sometime." While I was playing the show back after I'd posted it, I went ahead and did just that. A tremendous number of links turned up, including a book by former Mayor Mike Fedo on the subject.
I wonder how many people come to Duluth, and would never have thought to do such a search. "Duluth? In Minnesota? They didn't have lynchings in Minnesota -- did they? Really?" Just isn't a connection most folks would make. Or at least, if one were to list places where one thought there'd been a lynching, Duluth wouldn't even be on the list for most people, I suspect.
But just one quick search, and there it is, with all the shame that goes with it. When Billie Holliday sang about "Strange Fruit," she was singing about my home town, too. It's a funny old town. But it's not all funny. There's ugly bits, too.
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