Unless someone is an astute student of history, it is unlikely that many know that the largest mass lynching in the nation’s history was of Italian Americans living in New Orleans in the last decade of the 19th century. The anonymity of this fact is indicative of a problem in the country’s historical education and political discourse.
On March 14, 1891, the largest mass lynching in U.S. history occurred when 11 Italian Americans were killed in New Orleans, stemming from a controversial court decision involving the murder of a local police chief. Yet, one would never know this from the lack of attention it received in the country’s political discourse this week — other than this quick mention.
In an era of highlighting the sins of the country’s past, this tragic event exists in relative historical anonymity. The entire incident is rooted in anti-Italian discrimination, a phenomenon and period in the nation’s history that is rarely, if at all, mentioned or discussed.
A mob blamed 11 innocent Italian Americans for the chief’s murder, falsely and erroneously linking them to the mafia because of their heritage, even though they had already been acquitted in a trial the day before. Nevertheless, the prevailing sentiment of the mob at the time was that the mafia bribed the jury and the trial was corrupt. They attacked a local jail and dragged the Italian Americans “from their cells, and lynched them.”
Media coverage portrayed the lynchings in a positive light, with many outlets supporting the mob’s actions. Moreover, those responsible were never charged. The whole ordeal was a gross miscarriage of justice stemming from bigoted thoughts and negative stereotypes of Italian Americans. Incidentally, this mafia stereotype of Italians still exists in 2025.
“The 1891 New Orleans lynchings represent a dark chapter in American history that deserves greater recognition and understanding,” National Italian American Foundation President Robert Allegrini told me. “That 11 innocent Sicilians were brutally murdered by a mob after being acquitted in a court of law not only violated the most basic principles of justice but revealed the dangerous intersection of anti-immigrant sentiment, ethnic prejudice, and mob violence that has periodically surfaced throughout our nation’s history.
“As Italian Americans and as Americans, we have a responsibility to remember these victims and ensure their story is properly taught so that such injustices are never repeated,” Allegrini said.
It must be acknowledged that one of the reasons many are unfamiliar with the largest mass lynching in the nation’s history is because the victims are Italian Americans, and thus of European heritage. Or, quite simply put, the victims were white. It runs counter to the sociopolitical victimhood narrative that only nonwhite people endured massive discrimination. However, the victims’ Italian ethnicity should not preclude them from receiving the same kind of acknowledgment and attention, just like many of our country’s other shameful moments.
“Unfortunately, in my opinion, the Sicilian mass lynching, horrible as it was, does not fit into the mainstream media’s nor academia’s narrative on aggrieved ethnic/racial groups,” Allegrini said. “There would have to be an acknowledgment, which should not be that hard to make, that some European ethnic groups were also treated appallingly upon their arrival in America.”
Allegrini also mentioned that Italian American organizations also share a responsibility in discussing the largest mass lynching in the nation’s history. It’s a duty that many have failed to do.
“But part of the blame also lies with Italian American groups that sadly don’t want to be reminded of their origins now that they are a fully assimilated ethnic group,” Allegrini said. “There is very little effort on the part of Italian American organizations to have this tragic period inserted into the syllabus of American history classes.”
There’s also the problematic presence of a contemporary scholastic lethargy that contributes to the problem. It often doesn’t prioritize teaching discrimination against Italian Americans or their plight in the nation’s history.
“Surely the lack of knowledge of this instance in academic circles manifests a certain academic laziness and may well also have to do with dismissing the plight of an ethnic group which by every measure of income and education now exceeds the American norm,” Allegrini said.
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Most importantly, however, the nation’s history, the entire history, not just agenda-driven narratives or preferential ethnic grievances, should be taught. Unfortunately, we live in an era that favors left-wing revisionist history predicated on aligning past events with contemporary political objectives to mold future sociopolitical conditions. There’s too much indoctrination and not enough education, which, in turn, causes tragedies, including the largest mass lynching in the nation’s history, to go untaught.
“Erasing inconvenient history is far too prevalent in the U.S. today,” Allegrini said. “Manipulating it, as in the case of Howard Zinn’s A People’s History of America, is another problem. History is complicated. It is grey. But it deserves to be preserved warts and all and not ignored nor demolished.”