Editing Postcard (section)

==== Lynchings ====
{{main article|Lynching postcards}}In 1873, the [[Comstock Act]] was passed in the United States, which banned the publication of "obscene matter as well as its circulation in the mails".<ref name=":3">Kim, Linda (2012). "A Law of Unintended Consequences: United States Postal Censorship of Lynching Photographs". ''[[Visual Resources]]''. Taylor & Francis. '''28''' (2): 171–193. [[Digital object identifier|doi]]:10.1080/01973762.2012.678812.</ref> In 1908, §3893 was added to the Comstock Act, stating that the ban included material "tending to incite arson, murder, or assassination".<ref name=":3" /> Although this act did not explicitly ban lynching photographs or postcards, it banned the explicit racist texts and poems inscribed on certain prints. According to some, these texts were deemed "more incriminating" and caused their removal from the mail instead of the photograph itself because the text made "too explicit what was always implicit in lynchings".<ref name=":3" /> Some towns imposed "[[self-censorship]]" on lynching photographs, but section 3893 was the first step towards a national [[censorship]].<ref name=":3" /> Despite the amendment, the distribution of lynching photographs and postcards continued. Though they were not sold openly, the censorship was bypassed when people sent the material in [[envelope]]s or mail wrappers.<ref>Apel, Dora (2004). ''Imagery of Lynching: Black Men, White Women, and the Mob''. New Brunswick, N.J.; London: [[Rutgers University Press]]. {{ISBN|978-0-8135-3459-6}}.</ref>