 Vigilantism and lynching were deemed necessary evils to protect whites – politically, socially and economically – from the "lawlessness" of blacks.During such attacks, black men were ritually castrated as an act of further emasculation, making them "examples" of the fate of black man who dared to "step out of their place".Simply being accused of any offense against whites, regardless of evidence or the motives of the accuser, would result in the conviction, or lynching, of blacks.