Ida B. Wells: A Fight for Justice in Southern Lynching-Culture

Caroline Fowler, Michael Williamson,  Makenzie Mosby, Virginia Ariail, and Ashley Dill

Dr. McKinney

Group Review 1

Due: 9/12/16

Ida B. Wells: A Fight for Justice in Southern Lynching-Culture

Ida B. Wells was a key roleplayer in the fight against lynching in the post-Emancipation South. She questioned the violence she saw and the white supremacy that reigned because of it. Wells believed in fighting against this senselessness by using her talents to write poignant and controversial literature on the morality of lynching. She begged her readers to look past the surface of lynching which was based purely on accusations and therefore punishments to understand a larger truth where a racial hierarchy was being created and sustained. A Red Record was one of Wells’ most pointed and prolific writings on lynching in the South where she directly addresses the escalating violent racial tension.

An important point Wells subtly reinforces throughout her text is the perseverance necessary to invoke change, particularly campaigning against African American injustices. A Red Record focuses on the innumerable unjustified lynchings occurring daily in the South, a subject that was too taboo to discuss. Wells’ writing was relentless; page after page she provides her audience with gut-wrenching stories, and does not cease to leave any details out. She forces any reader to visualize the unwarranted murders for all of their senseless hatred against African Americans. Her meticulous work does not stop with the names of those lynched, however. Wells researched each lynching she discussed, seeking court details and compiling unadulterated statistics to share with the public. In her book, Southern Horrors and Other Writings, editor Jacqueline Jones Royster acknowledges this exact fact in her introduction stating, “The assertion has been substantiated throughout these pages that the press contains unreliable and doctored reports of lynchings, and one of the most necessary things for the race to do is to get these facts before the public.” During this time, this was much easier said than done, particularly for African Americans in elevated positions. Those like Wells with high status could utilize their influential status to further his/her cause, however that did not come without potential consequence.

Wells was wholly invested in her anti-lynching campaign, but her analytic view separated her from the lynchings on a personal level. Her constant contact with lynchings had yet to be of a personal nature, until three successful friends were murdered at their grocery store, causing her to ask, “how can this be? What’s really going on here?” By asking these questions, Wells dug deeper and deeper in a fight for justice. This was frustrating for Wells, working hard to spread this knowledge, only to lose three friends so close to her. How could she effectively fight for justice? By consistently and poignantly readdressing every lynching article in a white newspaper, and spreading the truth by any means possible, she did it. This included going against editors’ wishes, and causing upset among southern whites who could not appreciate Wells’ “character and veracity.” Despite this, Wells dependably focused on raising awareness, fighting for anti-lynching justice, and maintaining her promise to produce and share the truth.

Ida B. Wells used her investigative journalism to attempt to reveal the truth behind the many lynchings that had taken place in the South since emancipation. She began collecting data over several months to better understand how and why lynchings occurred. She was eager to expose the truth after three of her friends at the People’s Grocery Store in Memphis were unjustly lynched in March of 1892. After this incident, she realized she “was touched much more deeply than she had ever expected...for these events occurred in a civilized city.” Prior to this incident, she had hated the idea of lynching, but accepted the idea that perhaps these acts of violence were justified because of the crimes that those who were lynched had committed. However, after her friends from the People’s Grocery Store were unjustly murdered, “her eyes were opened to the truth.” She realized that lynching was not simply a crime and punishment sort of system, but instead it was an act of terror for the sake of maintaining white supremacy. In this instance, she realized she must not be the only person who had had this realization and from there was inspired to speak the truth through A Red Record.

In this pamphlet she mapped out the reasons why people of color were being lynched and how greatly unjustified it was. Three excuses for these lynchings were ‘race riots,’ the attempt to vote, and assaults on women (white women). Wells was sure to point out that this chivalry they were trying to prove by protecting white women was one that they did not possess for “virtue knows no color line, and the chivalry which depends upon complexion of skin and texture of hair can command no honest respect.” She proceeds through the remaining part of A Red Record to describe the crimes and those who were lynched for them in order to show just how often the violence occurred and how unethical it was. Each instance was attached to its location in what seemed to be an unending list of violence throughout the South. Through this list, Wells showed the immense body count for ‘crimes’ unworthy of the violence. She then explored ideas of “The Remedy” for which she gives five ways to prevent future lynchings and promote “law and order throughout the land.” These “ remedies” included bringing knowledge based on lynching facts to those whom you come into contact with, using religion and morals as reason to protest, ending lynching in order prove to the nation that the South is a civilized place worthy of economic investment, protecting the reputation of the nation for fear of humiliation, and asking Congress to help in the resolution.

           In measuring the effectiveness of Ida B. Wells’ writing, one of her primary goals was to bring attention to the issue in an effort to achieve justice for those wronged by lynching laws. Her provocative language and detailed imagery in the Red Record achieved this objective as it both brought attention to the issue as a whole and in individual instances as well. For example, in her chapter two titled “Lynch Law Statistics,” Wells provides specific instances of the crimes of people that were lynched. This displayed to the reader not only the frequent occurrence of lynching but also the variety of crimes that supposedly justified it. By shocking and overwhelming the reader with information, Wells instigated the desire to make changes to the system allowing these atrocities to occur.

        However, she not only achieved this objective through the writing of the Red Record but also through her anti-lynching advocacy. Through her advocacy, she aided in the instigation of tangible differences. One example is through her work abroad and how this pressured the United States, and Memphis, to make changes. Wells was frustrated with the United States’ presentation as an international peacekeeper when in reality they were unable to protect all of their citizens effectively.  The United States and Memphis both wanted to be portrayed as progressive, particularly to Europe. During the 1890’s Memphis was one of the largest exporters of Cotton to Europe therefore they wanted to be portrayed amicably to them. When Wells travelled to Britain in 1893, she wanted to embarrass the United States as well as put pressure on them to take action. Therefore, she sent British newspaper clippings of her advocacy in Britain to the Memphis Chamber of Commerce in an effort to push Memphis to make a change. Feeling compelled to respond, Memphis newspapers spoke out against lynching and another did not occur for more than twenty years.  This is an example of how Wells was able to effectively prey upon public opinion and perception in order to make changes to the injustices of lynching. She used the attention she gained through the Red Record as well as her personal anti-lynching advocacy to pressure Memphis, as well as the United States, to change their views and laws. Even though this did not necessarily change the moral views of the people in power, Wells manipulated the business and desire of success of the leaders of the community to force them to make changes.

Wells’ effectiveness in her work informs the contemporary movement through examining how Wells combatted state sanctioned violence. Between 1882-1931, state sanctioned violence materialized as lynching. It’s important to recognize that the state did not just include the police and government. Yes, Wells wrote about the police and government’s passivity in protecting and adjudicating the accused, however, the “leading citizens” who comprise the lynching mobs are also apart of the state. These “leading citizens” are men who have great influence in their communities, because Wells does not specifically identify working-class whites who are also a part of the mob.These men’s influence affected the economic welfare of the city, and the political lifespan of individuals in their local governments. In this case, they were just as important as the police and government in the state sanctioning violence. Counterparts to “leading citizens” of the late 1800s and early 1900s can be found in today’s movement. The “leading citizens” of the contemporary movement can influence politicians and police officials to continue to allow the degradation of black life and bodies. Due to their influence it is important to locate them and examine how their influence is currently affecting the movement.

Though Ida B. Wells explores the depths of the horrors of Jim Crow and used her unique position as a means to effect social change for black civil rights, her actions beg the question on whether or not she could have done more to advocate more for women’s rights. The action of lynching, as she described it, was both a racial as well as a women’s issue. It was done under the pretext to defend the honor of women, so in the defense of a white male social hierarchy. The honor of black women was strategically disregarded. Ida B. Wells expelled the notion that miscegenous relationships were inherently based upon transgression. For example, Wells illustrates the story of Sarah Clark, who lived openly with a black man, and how Clark, upon threat of conviction, repeatedly named herself black in order to maintain her relationship.Thus, showing that women willingly engage in interracial relationships and, like men, are sexual beings. She removes the notion of women being a puritanical figure, but she rarely comments on their disenfranchised role in society at the time.

Through her time as a journalist, Wells documented the scores of atrocities that was inflicted upon the black community following the Civil War. She exposed the act of lynching as a fear tactic meant to repress black society by white male hierarchy and she spread the awareness of the extent of lynching to a greater audience of people. In the process she helped set the groundwork for further developments in the movement for Black Civil Rights.