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The Infamous Willie Lynch Letter
The Truth Within The Lies
Let's start by saying the Willie Lynch Letter is a hoax, a lie; it was made up and never seen until 1970, 258 years after it was allegedly written. Some of the words used weren't in the vernacular in 1712; if you need documentation on how we know the letter is fake, there are several sources. But just because the letter is fake doesn't mean it isn't vital and worthy of discussion.
The Lynch Letter doesn't favor lynching; it views lynching as a waste of valuable property. The fictional Captain Lynch was a West Indian slave owner who came to America to share his tips for training enslaved people to comply for three hundred years. There was a real-life Captain William Lynch, a naval officer from Pittsylvania County, Virginia. That Captain Lynch is not associated with the infamous letter, and the Willie Lynch Letter is a lie.
You may have heard parts of this letter cited. Whether it was dialogue from the 2007 Denzel Washington film, "The Great Debaters, or the 2005 Ving Rhames film, "Animal." It has been referenced by multiple rappers…
