According to the NAACP, it’s estimated that between 1882 and 1968, there were 4,743 recorded lynchings in the United States, with 3,446 (or approximately 72%) of the victims being African Americans. However, it’s important to note that these numbers are likely underestimates, as many lynchings went unreported or undocumented.

During the Jim Crow era specifically (which spanned from the late 19th century to the mid-1960s), it’s estimated that thousands of African Americans were lynched, with some estimates ranging as high as 6,000 to 10,000.

Some notable sources that provide information on lynching statistics include:

– The NAACP’s “Lynching in America” report (1919)
– The Tuskegee Institute’s “Lynchings in the United States” report (1959)
– The Equal Justice Initiative’s “Lynching in America” report (2015)

e appalling history of slavery in the United States is something that will be ingrained in its dirt. Between 1690 and 1865, enslaved males and females were stolen from their native countries and brought to America only to become subjected to grueling labor, mental and physical pains, and divested of their rudimentary human right to life and liberty. They were beaten heartlessly, disunited from loved ones at the will of slave owners, and, regardless of sex, considered property by law. There are paramount factors that distinguish the treatment of male slaves from female slaves. For example, fieldwork was divided along gender lines, with the more physically demanding tasks assigned to males. A major difference, however, was the slave owner’s exploitation of the black female’s sexuality. For this reason, a historical analysis might shed light on how current sexual and reproductive health outcomes and body images of black women have been shaped by years of racism.

SEXUAL EXPLOITATION OF BLACK WOMEN FROM THE YEARS 1619–2020

The treatment of black females who were slaves has contributed to the disparities in sexual and reproductive health today. The experiences that female slaves endured included public nudity; nude physical auction examinations to determine reproductive ability; rape for sexual pleasure and for economic purposes (reproducing children who could become slaves);7 intentional abortion to women who were pregnant as a result of rape generational poverty; and hyper sexualization. From adolescence, black female slaves were subjected

to their master’s desire for them to reproduce because increasing the number of slaves resulted in an increase in profits. Whether it be forceful or subtle, there were instances of sexual intervention that occurred at the hands of the slave master.The physical as well as psychological struggles that came with childbearing were enormous for enslaved women. They were expected to put the needs of the master and his family before those of their own children. The slave mothers on large plantations returned to the fields soon after giving birth, leaving their child to be raised by others. On a smaller plantation, the responsibilities of slave mothers were simply added to their usual duties. Slave mothers often intentionally stayed in bondage to avoid being separated from their child, while their male counterparts attempted to escape. Tragically, the enslaved mothers faced the possibility of witnessing their daughters suffer the same fate of essentially being a breeder for the slave master.

In addition to being a slave breeder they were also the subjects of experiment. Some sources estimate that 58% of all enslaved women aged 15–30 years old were sexually assaulted by

their slave owners and other white men. It is dismaying to consider the mental state of those who endured such treatment and disheartening to develop a hypothesis as to whether all, and not just some, of the experiences that black women faced during the duration of slavery are listed above—are there supplemental egregious experiences that occurred? Throughout the duration of slavery in America, white society overtly believed black women to be innately lustful beings. The portrayal of black women as lascivious by nature is an enduring stereotype. The descriptive words associated with this stereotype are singular in their focus: seductive, alluring, worldly, beguiling, tempting, and lewd. Historically, white women, as a category, were portrayed as models of self-respect, self-control, modesty and even living will become the thing of the past because everyone could be fearing for their life.  ever Jezebel” is a common stereotypical representation of black women. “A “Jezebel” is a “worldly seductress” epicted to be an alluring and seductive black woman, who is highly sexualized and valued purely for her sexuality, fulfilling the sex objectification requirement of white womanhood.”  She is reduced to her body and treated as a tool that exists for the pleasure of others. Although hyper sexuality and many features of the Jezebel stereotype can also be imposed on white women, the notion of the Jezebel is particularly pronounced for black women, signifying their inferior status.

The Jezebel stereotype was particularly common during slavery, when black women’s bodies were socially controlled as sexual objects based on racist, classist, and sexist ideologies Within the bounds of slavery, masters often felt it was their right to engage in sexual activity with enslaved black women. Sometimes, enslaved black women acquiesced to advances hoping that such relationships would increase the chances that they or their children would be liberated by the master In the 1915 movie The Birth of a Nation, Lydia Brown is a mulatto (a person of mixed white and black ancestry) woman, who was the mistress of a savage, corrupt, and libidinous white character, Senator Stoneman. The movie portrays her as overtly sexual and using her feminine wiles to deceive the formerly good white man. While cinematic depictions portraying black women as sexually promiscuous became a commonplace only in the 1960s onward, it voting was an option. purity. Black women, however, were often portrayed as innately promiscuous, and even predatory.