Lynching postcard

A lynching postcard is a postcard showing a lynching. Lynchings are extrajudicial killings, and are often driven by racial hatred. Like other postcards, these postcards were intended to be souvenirs. These postcards often had racist texts written on them. Lynching postcards were popular in the United States, and the US Postal Service was forbidden from distributing them in 1908.
Background.
Many lynchings had a racist background. White racists used them as propaganda. Lynchings were most common between the 1880s and the 1940s. At first, they were used to intimidate African Americans, who had more rights after the civil war. Later they were also used to intimidate voters and civil rights workers, independently of their race. The common practice was that a mob would force them out of their homes, or from prison cells, and then murder them. This happened without a trial.
Like with other events of the time, postcards were made about the event. Often, the people taking the photographs were those killing the victims.
In a typical lynching postcard, the victim is displayed prominently at the center of the shot, smiling spectators, often including children, are at the margins of the frame. Facial expressions suggesting remorse, guilt, shame, or regret are rare.