Brownrigg, C. P. (2006). Linchocracia: Performing “America” in El Clamor Publico.

California History. Retrieved April 5, 2008, from Goliath database.

Brownrigg’s article’s title is drawn from an 1857 editorial edited by Francisco Ramirez and reprinted in El Clamor Publico, which suggests that California was rapidly becoming a linchocracia. The main focus of Brownrigg’s article is to highlight that El Clamor Publico, the first Spanish newspaper in California, is an invaluable resource in the study of lynching in the U.S. that offers early archival evidence that Mexicans, Californios, Latin Americans, and Native Americans were the frequent targets of lynching violence. The article suggests that key public figures, such as Ramirez, were able to understand lynching violence as specifically designed to distinguish between White or Anglo-Americans and the other races.

The essay shows how Ramirez covered the lynching of the Spanish-speaking population much more than the mainstream English media. His writings reflect how he was outraged at American prejudice towards Mexicans and Latin Americans, especially when it was accompanied by notions of Anglo superiority.

Brownrigg shows how El Clamor Publico was able to highlight that Mexicans, Native Americans and Chinese were all victims of lynching at a time when many anti-lynching activists framed lynching as an act of violence perpetuated mainly against African Americans and ignored other racialized groups. She argues that both the act of lynching and Ramirez’ use of lynching as a rhetorical strategy in his newspaper must be understood as public performances staged to transmit particular cultural messages to a variety of audiences. Brownrigg demonstrates that calling lynching a performance is an acknowledgment that it is a public act framed for an audience. She emphasized that most lynching served as framed events that were meant to be seen by community members to perform as both willing and unwilling participants. She argues that the act of calling something a ‘lynching’ is itself performative. Brownrigg suggests that Ramirez also used the term lynching to perform a particular critique of American democratic claims and to challenge the U.S. ideologies of democracy and equality.

Ramirez’s March 21, 1857 letter, in which he described the lynching of San Gabriel, is a great example of how he used the term ‘lynching’ to perform a particular critique of American democratic claims. His word selection makes his letter look like a performance that describes and details a horrible act of violence to the readers. It makes the readers feel as if they were watching an act of mob violence rather than just reading about it.

The letter began by describing the lynching showing the reader how the body was thrown on the ground and how the dead man’s head was separated from its body. Then Ramirez described the people’s shouts and hurrahs and described how every person in the crowd was eager to thrust his knife into the dead body.

At the end of his letter, Ramirez said, “Perhaps you think that the executioner was an Indian from the mountains, one of those barbarians who lives far away from civilization, in the Sierra Nevada! Wrong! That barbarian, that mutilator of cadavers is … the justice of peace in San Gabriel!! Hurray! May he live! He is a citizen of the United States, a pure blooded American” (p. 49). The words and metaphors used by Ramirez in this letter are very strong, strong enough to influence a feeling of outrage against this violent act. They reflect the brutality of lynching and lynchers as well as the bitterness of Mexicans and other minorities who were oppressed, tortured and humiliated under this extralegal mob violence perpetuated under the claims of protecting the civilized community from what they considered non-White savages.

By comparing the articles and letters of Ramirez that were published in El Clamor Publico to other articles published in mainstream media, Brownrigg was able to highlight the big difference between both mainstream and ethnic media not only in terms of content and framing, but also in what is considered newsworthiness and what is not. Her article also sheds light on the role of ethnic media in defending ethnic groups’ rights and guiding them in their fight against racism and mob violence.

Brownrigg’s article adds a new light to the issue of lynching as it provides news and analyses from El Clamor Publico, the first Spanish newspaper in California, a source that is not available to all readers. By calling lynching a performance, the author created a new conception of these extralegal acts of violence and succeeded to highlight the racial face of ‘Judge Lynch.” (Reviewed by Sahar El Zahed).