On this day, 120 years ago, Frank Embree, falsely accused of rape, was lynched after being whipped over 100 times

(On this day, 120 years ago, Frank Embree, falsely accused of rape, was lynched after being whipped over 100 times) “Those eyes, the straight-up posture, the pained scowl. Go on, look at me, he seemed to be telling them. The year is 1899. He is naked. He is handcuffed. He has been whipped one hundred and five times. He is standing on a buggy, surrounded by his executioners, in a farm field northeast of Fayette, Missouri. He is a young black man who knows he soon will die in front of 1,200 white men, women and teens.

This man has a name. His name is Frank Embree. Frank Embree was nineteen when he was accused of raping a fourteen year old white girl. Although rape was punishable by hanging in the state of Missouri at the time, for decades it was a punishment reserved for black men convicted of raping white women. 

Although Embree maintained his innocence, he was whipped over one hundred times until he confessed to the crime, saying "he would 'own-up' if they would 'hang me or shoot me, instead of torturing me."' With tears pouring down his face, he agreed to own up to the charges if the police agreed not to torture him any further.

He was castrated, skinned (front and back), and lynched in front of a cheering crowd on July 22, 1899."