By The Deadly “Ducking Test”: Racial Terror Disguised as Justice
The Deadly “Ducking Test”: Racial Terror Disguised as Justice
Between 1877 and the 1940s in the Southern United States, a brutal and often fatal interrogation method was employed against Black suspects by some local courts and law enforcement. This practice, frequently referred to as the “ducking test,” was not a search for truth, but a method used to coerce confessions, often from innocent individuals.
A Method of Coercion
This horrifying procedure involved tying suspects to chairs and repeatedly submerging them in rivers or other bodies of water. The torture continued until the victim, facing the threat of drowning, yielded to the pressure and “confessed” to the alleged crime, regardless of their guilt.
The Deadly Toll
While some individuals subjected to this ordeal managed to survive, the practice resulted in a significant loss of life. Concrete records indicate that dozens of Black men perished due to this torture, unable to withstand the repeated submersion.
Euphemisms for Abuse
The perpetrators and locals used chilling euphemisms to describe this act of racial violence. It was sometimes referred to as the “water cure” or even disturbingly labeled a “baptism.” However, history recognizes these terms as thinly veiled attempts to normalize and disguise a practice that was nothing less than a lethal weapon of racial terror operating under the guise of the justice system.
This dark chapter reveals a systematic abuse of power, where life and truth were sacrificed for forced confessions. The stories of those who drowned must be remembered as a testament to the extremes of racial injustice in this era.
