The mythical Captain Lynch was a slave owner in the West Indies who relocated to North America in the early 18th century. The details in his letter contradict the historical record.
Lynch claimed to have a “modest plantation in the West Indies.” The plantation system was well established by 1712, and plantation owners were rarely on-site. Most stayed in their home country and hired overseers and managers to run the plantations.
Captain Lynch took it upon himself to lecture slaveholders on how to control enslaved people by turning them against each other. He wrote, “The old should be pitted against the young, the dark against the light, the male against the female…” These tactics are still being used against our community.
Sometimes, we still use phrasing from the Willie Lynch letter without thinking about it. Disparaging each other and believing in this lie will do nothing positive for us. It also limits the power we hold individually and as a community.
Nothing about Black people can be based on a racist theory, especially a fictional one. The Willie Lynch theory was created to tear us apart. We must reject it and stand united against white supremacy.