Picnic

[Dave Wilton]

> Well, I wouldn't go that far.  I think the jury is still out on the
> question, not of the word's origin but on the word's usage.

I wouldn't say the jury was out at all. There are certainly a number of
people who believe that picnics took place at the sites of lynchings and
that the word has its origin in this practice. But I haven't seen any
evidence that anyone actually uses or ever used "picnic" as a racial slur or
coded term for lynchings or other racist activities. I haven't even seen
anyone claim that the word is used in a racist manner, only that it should
be avoided because of its (false) origin. Its usage seems to be universally
and unambiguously innocent of racism.

> Certainly oral histories of elderly southerner--both black
> and white in this particular case--like the one below from
> a special presentation called Remembering Jim Crow, make
> the association between whites picnicking and black
> lynchings, so it wasn't too long ago.
> http://www.americanradioworks.org/features/remembering/transcript.html

Note that the statements made about picnicking at the sites of lynchings in
the NPR feature are not exactly "oral histories." They are simply
historical, not personal, claims made Amelia Robinson, a long-time leader in
the civil rights movement (at least I think it's her, NPR doesn't give her
credentials). She does not claim to have witnessed such events, nor does she
give any facts about when, where, and how often these picnics took place.
She simply states that such events did occur. (Note that superficially it
appears as if several people are making the claims, but a careful reading
shows that the different voices are all Robinson's, edited to provide a
slightly different phrasing each time.)

Also, in the piece Robinson uses "picnic" to refer to days blacks spent on
the town: "Because they got paid on Fridays, they'd come to town on
Saturdays and spend the money. That was their attitude. So, black people,
would see, this was like a picnic to them. They would see their friends,
their relatives. They'd make acquaintances and what not." It does not appear
that Robinson herself associates use of the word "picnic" with lynching or
other evils of racism.