Invitation to a Killing
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Invitation to a Killing
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Plans to livestream a military execution at Fort Hood send host Mark Long back to childhood cockfights and photographs of Jesse Washington’s 1916 lynching in Waco. Photographer Fred Gildersleeve sold images of the killing as postcards, letting buyers keep—and share—the occasion. Later, the NAACP used the postcards in a campaign that helped turn public opinion against lynching.
An invitation to watch someone be killed asks something of its audience. Authorities may call it a lesson in consequences, while spectators find reassurance, belonging, or disgust. The question is what follows after the thrill—or horror—of the moment is over.
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