At Least 2,000 More Black Americans Were Lynched Than Previously Reported

White mobs and individuals lynched at least 2,000 more Black Americans than previously documented, according to a new report from the Equal Justice Initiative .

The report, released Tuesday, documents confirmed lynchings during the Reconstruction era, from 1865 to 1876, after the end of the Civil War and Black Americans emancipation from slavery. The groups previous report on the subject, from 2015, detailed 4,500 racial terror lynchings from 1877 to 1950 adding up to nearly 6,500 confirmed lynchings of Black people in the U.S. from 1865 to 1950.

EJI notes that thousands more lynchings may never be documented, defining lynchings as when Black people were attacked, sexually assaulted and terrorized by white mobs and individuals who were largely shielded from arrest and prosecution.

The new report details attacks like one from 1865, when six Black men were lynched in North Carolina after demanding a white landowner pay them for their work. And the following year in New Orleans, white mobs attacked people marching for Black voting rights, killing an estimated 33 Black people.

We cannot understand our present moment without recognizing the lasting damage caused by allowing white supremacy and racial hierarchy to prevail during Reconstruction, wrote EJI Director Bryan Stevenson in a news release.

The report was released amid weeks of nationwide protests against systemic racism and police brutality, following the killing of George Floyd, a Black man, by a white police officer, Derek Chauvin, in Minneapolis. Chauvin knelt on Floyds neck for nearly 9 minutes, even as Floyd pleaded I cant breathe.

It also comes the week of Juneteenth, a holiday commemorating the end of slavery in the U.S. though, as the report notes, it quickly became clear that emancipation in the United States did not mean equality for Black people.

EJIs new report, Reconstruction in America, documents nearly 2,000 more confirmed racial terror lynchings of Black people by white mobs in America than previously detailed. This brings the total of confirmed lynchings to 6,500 with thousands more that may never be documented. pic.twitter.com/8vPwugJYtK

Equal Justice Initiative (@eji_org) June 16, 2020","type":"rich","meta":{"author":"Equal Justice Initiative","author_url":"https://twitter.com/eji_org","cache_age":86400,"description":"EJIs new report, Reconstruction in America, documents nearly 2,000 more confirmed racial terror lynchings of Black people by white mobs in America than previously detailed. This brings the total of confirmed lynchings to 6,500 with thousands more that may never be documented. pic.twitter.com/8vPwugJYtK Equal Justice Initiative (@eji_org) June 16, 2020\n\n","options":{"_hide_media":{"label":"Hide photos, videos, and cards","value":false},"_hide_thread":{"label":"Hide previous Tweet in conversation thread","value":true},"_theme":{"value":"","values":{"dark":"Use dark theme"}}},"provider_name":"Twitter","thumbnail_height":675,"thumbnail_url":"https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Eaq_9R8WAAEs8av.jpg","thumbnail_width":1200,"title":"Equal Justice Initiative on Twitter","type":"rich","url":"https://twitter.com/eji_org/status/1273040560631267330","version":"1.0"},"flags":[],"enhancements":{},"fullBleed":false,"options":{"theme":"voices","device":"mobile","editionInfo":{"id":"us","name":"U.S.","link":"https://action.news","locale":"en_US"},"originalEdition":"us","isMapi":false,"isAmp":false,"isVideoEntry":false,"isEntry":true,"isMt":false,"entryId":"5eea6f94c5b6d4397ade568a","entryPermalink":"https://action.news/entry/lynchings-black-americans-reconstruction-eji-report_n_5eea6f94c5b6d4397ade568a","entryTagsList":"equal-justice-initiative,white-supremacy,lynching,black-voices,bryan-stevenson,ku-klux-klan,black-voices,politics","sectionSlug":"black-voices","deptSlug":"voices","sectionRedirectUrl":null,"subcategories":"politics","isWide":false,"headerOverride":null,"noVideoAds":false,"disableFloat":false,"isNative":false,"commercialVideo":{"provider":"custom","site_and_category":"us.black-voices","package":null},"isHighline":false,"vidibleConfigValues":{"cid":"60afc111dcf87c2cd2f5d8bf","overrides":{"front_page_top_videos":{"desktop":"60b64354b171b7444beaff4d","mobileweb":"60b64354b171b7444beaff4d"},"top_media":{"desktop":"60b8e6bdc5449357a7ada147","mobile":"60b8e701c5449357a7ada2ee","iphone":"60b8e643cdd90620331bb1f6","ipad":"60b8e643cdd90620331bb1f6","androidphone":"60b8e699c5449357a7ada04c","androidtablet":"60b8e699c5449357a7ada04c"},"anthology":{"desktop":"60b8e616cdd90620331bb0ba","mobile":"60b8e671c5449357a7ad9f66","iphone":"60b8e643cdd90620331bb1f6","ipad":"60b8e643cdd90620331bb1f6","androidphone":"60b8e699c5449357a7ada04c","androidtablet":"60b8e699c5449357a7ada04c"},"content":{"desktop":"60b8e616cdd90620331bb0ba","mobile":"60b8e671c5449357a7ad9f66","iphone":"60b8e643cdd90620331bb1f6","ipad":"60b8e643cdd90620331bb1f6","androidphone":"60b8e699c5449357a7ada04c","androidtablet":"60b8e699c5449357a7ada04c"}},"playerUpdates":{"5668ae6ee4b0b5e26955d6a6":"60d2472d9340d7032ad7e443","56aa41bae4b091744c0440d8":"60e869dc7c5f3b17b6741b81","5841b2b5cc52c716ec6e5a7f":"60b8e355cdd90620331ba185","58b5e2b8d85a10302feee895":"60b64316b171b7444beafdb2","58b74698f78ced31417819ae":"60b8e5bec5449357a7ad9b52","58b74ccecebcea57e2c3a3d1":"60b8e5eac5449357a7ad9ca5","58cff690d85a100b9992bc39":"60b8e616cdd90620331bb0ba","58cffb3fb6d9b972a49a3c9d":"60b8e643cdd90620331bb1f6","58cffdd74d96935d7d6ec180":"60b8e671c5449357a7ad9f66","58d03a84f78ced6518eb2fa7":"60b643c82e76be41f112735c","592edf20e0fa177b0c26f7fd":"60b8e699c5449357a7ada04c","5b35266b158f855373e28256":"60b64354b171b7444beaff4d","5c116f29f79c4171d82b7c2a":"60b64440b171b7444beb040b","5c1170fc600c9a697bf0c6b9":"60b646102e76be41f1127ffc","5c47791afa1b317df8ae0c4f":"60b8e6bdc5449357a7ada147","5c477987a6b48b35f164773d":"60b8e701c5449357a7ada2ee","5c4779ee943c3c2a64f28371":"60b8e747cdd90620331bb861","5c477a26fcd67b26879bc7c2":"60b8e788c5449357a7ada67b","5d8921a78c3ae845f366c9b6":"60ae7be5f3a7c13a30417ff9","58b98b00ba82aa39a6534321":"60d0de7c9340d7032ad1146c","58b9d14cb6d9b96c9ec32af3":"60d0dec19340d7032ad115a0","58cff8eccebcea42931e0436":"60d0e005b627221e9d819d44","592edf5de0fa177b0c26f95b":"60d0e38fb627221e9d81adcf","58cff72fd85a100b9992c112":"60d0e447b627221e9d81b0da","56b4d34fe4b022697697c400":"60d2472d9340d7032ad7e443","60b8e4c0c5449357a7ad957d":"60e869dc7c5f3b17b6741b81"}},"connatixConfigValues":{"defaultPlayer":"ff7fdddc-5441-4253-abc4-f12a33fad58b","clickToPlayPlayer":"d014396e-b366-4c17-aeac-3ce906fa3fd0","videoPagePlayer":"f010447b-d244-4111-a314-7b4542ae4145","verticalPlayer":"e58cb05a-0bc8-4210-9108-fea82726c065","stickyPlayerControl":"52ea1755-d601-4ad1-bccc-d8cce3f0e5da","stickyPlayerON":"8055e9e5-3bda-4933-8d45-9ad814fb6e22"},"topConnatixThumnbailSrc":"https://img.connatix.com/c90b8d97-06e6-49a9-9dd0-c312e612c625/1_th.jpg?crop=480:270,smart&width=480&height=270&format=jpeg&quality=60&fit=crop","customAmpComponents":[],"ampAssetsUrl":"https://amp.assets.huffpost.com","videoTraits":null,"positionInUnitCounts":{"buzz_head":{"count":0},"buzz_body":{"count":0},"buzz_bottom":{"count":0}},"positionInSubUnitCounts":{"article_body":{"count":8},"blog_summary":{"count":0},"before_you_go_content":{"count":0}},"connatixCountsHelper":{"count":1},"buzzfeedTracking":{"context_page_id":"5eea6f94c5b6d4397ade568a","context_page_type":"buzz","destination":"huffpost","mode":"mobile","page_edition":"en-us"},"tags":[{"name":"equal justice initiative","slug":"equal-justice-initiative","links":{"relativeLink":"topic/equal-justice-initiative","permalink":"https://action.news/topic/equal-justice-initiative","mobileWebLink":"https://action.news/topic/equal-justice-initiative"},"url":"https://action.news/topic/equal-justice-initiative"},{"name":" white supremacy","slug":"white-supremacy","links":{"relativeLink":"topic/white-supremacy","permalink":"https://action.news/topic/white-supremacy","mobileWebLink":"https://action.news/topic/white-supremacy"},"department":{"name":"Latest News","slug":"politics-news"},"section":{"title":"Politics","slug":"politics"},"topic":{"title":"White Supremacy","slug":"white-supremacy","overridesSectionLabel":false},"url":"https://action.news/news/topic/white-supremacy"},{"name":"lynching","slug":"lynching","links":{"relativeLink":"topic/lynching","permalink":"https://action.news/topic/lynching","mobileWebLink":"https://action.news/topic/lynching"},"url":"https://action.news/topic/lynching"},{"name":"black voices","slug":"black-voices","links":{"relativeLink":"topic/black-voices","permalink":"https://action.news/topic/black-voices","mobileWebLink":"https://action.news/topic/black-voices"},"department":{"name":"Voices","slug":"voices"},"section":{"title":"Black Voices","slug":"black-voices"},"topic":{"title":"Black Voices News","slug":"black-voices-news","overridesSectionLabel":false},"url":"https://action.news/voices/topic/black-voices-news"},{"name":"bryan stevenson","slug":"bryan-stevenson","links":{"relativeLink":"topic/bryan-stevenson","permalink":"https://action.news/topic/bryan-stevenson","mobileWebLink":"https://action.news/topic/bryan-stevenson"},"relegenceId":5101321,"url":"https://action.news/topic/bryan-stevenson"},{"name":"ku klux klan","slug":"ku-klux-klan","links":{"relativeLink":"topic/ku-klux-klan","permalink":"https://action.news/topic/ku-klux-klan","mobileWebLink":"https://action.news/topic/ku-klux-klan"},"relegenceId":3686092,"url":"https://action.news/topic/ku-klux-klan"},{"name":"Black Voices","slug":"black-voices","url":"https://action.news/topic/black-voices"},{"name":"Politics","slug":"politics","url":"https://action.news/topic/politics"}],"isLiveblogLive":null,"isLiveblog":false,"cetUnit":"buzz_body","bodyAds":["

\r\n\r\n","

\r\n\r\n"],"adCount":0},"isCollectionEmbed":false}">

EJIs new report, Reconstruction in America, documents nearly 2,000 more confirmed racial terror lynchings of Black people by white mobs in America than previously detailed. This brings the total of confirmed lynchings to 6,500 with thousands more that may never be documented. pic.twitter.com/8vPwugJYtK
Equal Justice Initiative (@eji_org) June 16, 2020

The report notes that white perpetrators of violence against Black people during Reconstruction were almost never held accountable, and many were even celebrated.

During the recent protests, demonstrators across the American South have torn down statues and monuments to racists , including many of Confederate leaders such as a statue of Confederate President Jefferson Davis in Richmond, Virginia, the former capital of the Confederacy.

Your Support Has Never Been More Critical

Other news outlets have retreated behind paywalls. At HuffPost, we believe journalism should be free for everyone.

Would you help us provide essential information to our readers during this critical time? We can't do it without you.

Can't afford to contribute? Support HuffPost by creating a free account and log in while you read.

You've supported HuffPost before, and we'll be honest we could use your help again . We view our mission to provide free, fair news as critically important in this crucial moment, and we can't do it without you.

Whether you give once or many more times, we appreciate your contribution to keeping our journalism free for all.

Whether you give just one more time or sign up again to contribute regularly, we appreciate you playing a part in keeping our journalism free for all.

Support HuffPost

Despite all those things the slavery, the lynching, the segregation, the mass incarceration, the police violence I am here, Stevenson said earlier this month, speaking of the long, ongoing legacy of racism in the U.S. in a virtual town hall with former President Barack Obama .

Black people in this country are undefeated in our resolve that we will be free, said Stevenson, who is the great-grandson of people who had been enslaved. Thats the thing that sustains me.