Lynching and its Legacy in Texas | Jeffrey L. Littlejohn | TEDxSHSU

Texans are currently engaged in a fierce battle over the teaching of racial discrimination and violence. In 2021, for example, the state legislature passed two bills – HB 3979 and SB 3 – that restrict the ways teachers may discuss the history of racism, violence, and white supremacy in the state’s K-12 public schools. In this presentation, Dr. Jeffrey L. Littlejohn argues that such topics must be taught if Texas is to become the 21st century’s most dynamic, multicultural, and inclusive U.S. state. Focusing on the history of lynching in Texas, Littlejohn discusses the racialization of lynching in the 1880s, the involvement of law officers and state officials in systemic violence, and the way organizations like the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People fought against racial discrimination and lynching.

Dr. Jeffrey L. Littlejohn serves as Professor of History at Sam Houston State University. A native of Dallas, Texas, he holds a bachelor’s degree from Belmont University and an M.A. and Ph.D. from the University of Arkansas. Littlejohn is the co-author of three books: Elusive Equality: Desegregation and Resegregation in Norfolk's Public Schools (2012); The Enemy Within Never Did Without: German and Japanese Prisoners of War at Camp Huntsville, Texas, 1942-1945 (2015); and The Seedtime, the Work, and the Harvest: New Perspectives on the Black Freedom Struggle in America (2018). He also directs a number of digital history projects including Lynching in Texas, East Texas History, The Underground Railroad in Virginia, The Brown Decision in Norfolk, Virginia, and Democracy and Diversity in Walker County, Texas. His work has been funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities, Virginia Humanities, Humanities Texas, Sam Houston State University, and other organizations. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx