Dear Larry: Because you seem like a sensible person, I thought I would ask you a question that I have been wondering about: Where did the word "lynch" come from, and when did it become racist? Has it always been racist?

I am not a racist person and thus don't keep up with the lingo. But this is the second time recently that something has come up in the news about this, and I've wondered about it. All sorts of people have been lynched in the past, not just blacks.

I just don't get it. — Jennifer

Dear Jennifer: The origin of the word as it relates to hanging is lost in the fog of history. Historians differ on which of the following three incidents is the correct version:

— James Fitzstephen Lynch, an Irish mayor, hanged his own son in 1493 for killing a man in Galway, Ireland.

— In 1687, an Englishman named Lynch was sent to the American colonies to suppress a growing piracy problem. It has been said that Lynch hanged every pirate he could capture.

— During the American Revolution, Major Beard, a Tory, hanged a group of patriots near Lynch Creek in Franklin County, North Carolina.

Lynching as it relates to blacks is one of the real ugly stains upon our history. It became popular after the Civil War to terrorize the black community and to "keep them in their place." Whites wanted to maintain their supremacy and political power. In order to stay in charge, they used lynching to prevent blacks from voting.

Blacks and others who believed in equality tried to enact a law that would make lynching a federal crime. Because of the white Democratic bloc in the South, no law ever was enacted.

Lynching was so effective that the results are still with us today, and that is why it is associated as being anti-black. The hatred and fear of lynching has been passed from one generation to the next. I remember my parents telling me to be careful and watch what I say because "the whites will lynch any Negro that gets out of line." Then my parents would go in great detail describing a lynching of a friend or relative who was beaten and lynched by a white mob.

Dear Larry: What's your take on the John White case? I'm not black, I don't own a pistol, and I definitely wouldn't have handled things the way he did, but I can't help wondering whether his actions should've been ruled justifiable homicide or self-defense. Those boys didn't show up at his house to preach; they showed up to get into a fight with his son.

I also can't help thinking that this guy worked his tail off to buy a house in a better neighborhood and shouldn't have to take any crap on his own property.

I also wonder whether the boys who showed up on his property were looking to fight with his son because he is black.

Then again, I wonder why he didn't just call the police and let them handle it. — Dan

Dear Dan: Your last statement is the one that makes the most sense to me. I know many people wanted to use race as the reason for the conviction. Unless there is something I am missing, I just don't see race as the factor.

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