Passions, People, and Prejudice and throw in Mob Mentality

I remembered passions as a child but not as an adult because they [passions] were something deeply rooted in belief and it is hard to find truth now. I even wrote a poem about Rosa Parks because I thought she was so inspirational. Reading The American Prejudice Against Color, I came across the quote, "Some declared it would be vulgar, and had rather see every child of theirs dead and buried, than take the course which, they were shocked to find." The reference is that the narrator, Will Allen (a quadroon: 1/4th Black), has set the village in an uproar because he seeks to marry a white woman. Why would somebody make an utterance that would mean they would rather have their own flesh in the ground than follow the discourse of white marrying black.

How is it that a person's passion will cause him to commit murder, and invoke the help of "some four or five hundred men" in doing so? The mob that was against what they called amalgamation consisted of "men who, under other circumstances, would have been regarded as beneath contempt [. . .] did not hesitate to affiliate themselves in order to crush a man who was guilty of no crime save that, having a colored skin, he was supposed to be about to marry a lady a few shades lighter than himself" (56). Within the narration is also yet another type of passion which is love that will tie together two people who risk life and limb to be married. At the same time, I do not see a mob coming together to rally for true love in a violent manner. As one of my topics, I would like to explore the sources of anger laden on blacks from whites, for it is such a strong and sacred topic that reaches for answers within the basic core of humanity.

Passion can mean death and I want to know whether the anger comes from nowhere and needs to be released relating back to "mob mentality," or is this anger rooted deeply in history and relations. Since miscegenation is the most important topic, let me diverge my thoughts to something more concrete that can be studied. How can interracial marriage result in a stranger taking another person's life?