In 1916, 17-year-old Jesse Washington was lynched in downtown Waco, Texas, just under three miles from where I sit. The event, known here in town as the “First Waco Horror,” followed the pattern of many such executions during the Jim Crow era. It relied on shaky evidence, inexperienced defense lawyers, and an hour-long trial that ended with a four-minute jury deliberation.
Spike Lee’s incredible 2018 film BlacKkKlansman described the barbaric details of Washington’s lynching in a poignant scene toward the end of the movie. Lee’s film also touched on how the First Waco Horror led to the rise of the NAACP and a change in public perception of lynchings.
I couldn’t help but think of Jesse Washington today when I saw news that the execution of Nidal Hassan will be made public.
Hassan was convicted in the 2009 murder of 13 people at Ft. Hood, Texas. He represented himself in his trial and admitted responsibility for the attack. Although the government declined to charge him with terrorism, the attacks followed sustained correspondence between Hassan and an al-Qaeda operative.
Jesse Washington and Nidal Hassan are not the same.
But we are. The common denominator in both their stories is us.
On the day Washington was lynched by the citizens of Waco, over 10,000 people from across McLennan County showed up. Schoolchildren were allowed to attend during lunch. A photographer snapped photos of Washington’s charred body to be used as postcards from Waco.
Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth announced the forthcoming public execution of Hassan on Wednesday. On Thursday, the Pentagon confirmed that it will be livestreamed. For now, those are the only details we have. But anyone who knows America knows one thing: If it happens, people will watch.
Jesse Washington’s story forbids us from responding to Hegseth’s announcement with, “This isn’t who we are.” White Americans have proven, time and again, that this is exactly who we are.
But it doesn’t have to be.
Some in our country revel in Pete Hegseth’s barbarism, and even call it righteous. Others shrug it off as a cartoon villain deflecting attention from an unpopular war and a crippling economy.
People of faith must call it what it is: Evil.
There is a stream within Christianity that contends no demon can be exorcised if it is not named. Pete Hegseth has summoned a particular U.S. demon: Bloodthirst. We crave it. We may suppress it for a while, but it always bubbles back up.
Although opposition to the death penalty makes it easier to recognize and name Bloodthirst for what it is, it isn’t necessary. You don’t have to believe anything about the death penalty or terrorism or Nidal Hassan to acknowledge that public executions are immoral and diminish the dignity and humanity of any society that practices them.
Now is the time to repent, name the demon, and cast it out.
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Senior Editor at Good Faith Media.