Life, 1913-03-27 · page 24 of 60
Life — March 27, 1913 — page 24: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This satirical piece brutally mocks the epidemic of lynching in the American South during the early 1910s. The article presents Georgia's lynching statistics (18 in 1911, 11 in 1912) as though they were competitive sporting achievements, sarcastically encouraging neighboring Southern states to "make records for themselves." The text cites 117 lynchings across two years, with 110 occurring in the South—documenting a horrific pattern of racialized violence. The three cartoon panels employ dark humor to contrast with this grim reality: they depict trivial scenarios (bathing illegally, a mislaid bible) to show how casual lawbreaking is in the South, implying that murder by mob goes equally unpunished. The satire's point is clear: Life magazine is exposing and condemning the South's systemic failure to prosecute lynchers while aggressively enforcing trivial laws—revealing the racist hypocrisy of Southern justice.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
624 -LIFE- Hail, Georgia, Hail! Ik you want to be lynched, your best State is Georgia. Georgia has held the record for two years now, perhaps longer, but an attack of jealousy prevented us from going back any further. In 1911 Georgia was the gracious host at eighteen of these delightfully dainty little parties, and in 1912 she carried eleven of these refined functions to a successful and gratifying conclusion, In 1911 Kentucky was a poor second, with eight to her credit, while in 1912 Mississippi and Alabama were tied for second place with five each. Of the hundred seventeen lynchings in the United States - in the two years, one hundred ten were in the South, so if you can’t afford a ticket as far as Georgia, accommodations may be found most any place below Mason and Dixon's line. Though Georgia has done well, let not her neighboring States be content to rest = on her laurels. Let them rather go for- ward with their own ropes, pistols, pro- fanity and chewing-tobacco and make records for themselves. “YOUNG MAN, ISN'T IT AGAINST THE LAW TO GO BATHING IN THERE?” | “YEs'M, BUT 11'S EASY TO DODGE DE CONSTABLE IF YE | WANT TO COME IN.” “ OPFICER, CAN YOU TELL ME JUST WHERE 1 Axt?” “WHAT'S THAT AWFUL SWEARING OUT THERE, HILDA?” “) CAN. YOU'RE IN THE AWFUL NUMBER OF “OH, SIR, THE BISHOP HAS MISLAID HIS BIBLE!" ire.” comicbooks.com