The Lynching of Aleck Leach in Lowndes County, MS June 26, 1884

In literature, sermons, and in news articles before and after Reconstruction, Black males were portrayed as over-sexualized predatory men who lived to prey on innocent white girls and women. Whites feared a loss of racial purity and miscegenation of their women. It was not an issue for the white man to father children with Black women, but white females were only to produce white children.

During the Reconstruction Era, Mississippi’s white population realized their second greatest fear: they were outnumbered by their former enslaved population. Freemen began to run for and win elected office at the local and state levels. Then, Black elected officials in the Mississippi legislature began to propose and pass anti-miscegenation laws.