Essay Questions

What is the significance of the song "Strange Fruit."

Strange Fruit is a jazz song that has been performed by many black artists such as Billie Holiday and Nina Simone. It was first written as a poem by a teacher called Abel Meeropol in 1937 and has become a famous protest song about racism and lynching in America. The song expresses the horrors of lynching using haunting imagery, which compares the bodies of African Americans to "strange fruit," hanging from the tree.

James H. Cone refers to a line of the song in his introduction to The Cross and the Lynching Tree: "For African Americans, the memory of disfigured black bodies "swinging in the southern breeze" is so painful." As such, by referencing the song in his introduction, Cone emphasizes the importance of Strange Fruit in the symbolic history of the lynching tree. In Chapter 5, Cone opens with a reference to the song, which again reinforces the importance of the song. Overall, Strange Fruit explores the emotional horrors and trauma resulting from the lynching tree, which is significance in this text's message.

What cultural references does Cone make in The Cross and the Lynching Tree?

This text refers to a number of cultural figures, works of art and scenarios. Cone often makes reference to biblical stories, such as the crucifixion of Christ. Old spiritual songs are also referred to, such as in the first chapter, which is called "nobody knows de trouble I see." He also refers to religious academics, such as Reinhold Niebuhr in chapter 2. More well-known references in the text include the civil rights figure Dr. Martin Luther King, and artists such as Billie Holiday. Cone alludes to the song "Strange Fruits" several times in the text, which is a well-known jazz song.