Ida B Wells-Dubois Analysis

Cox, Du Bois, and Ida B. Wells-Barnett all had similar ideas. They all experienced racial segregation related issues whether it pertained personally to themselves or not. The topics they discuss are important to our society today because they inform us on issues of the past that persist today and give us insight on the progress we have or have not made. We can compare our personal experiences in our lives with theirs, and recognize how fortunate we are not to have gone through some of the exact struggles they did. While we can also be humble to the fact that there are some citizens in America going through very similar situations as explained by Cox, Du Bois, and/or Ida B. Wells-Barnett of the past. It is significant for us to be aware of
Through the history of lynchings, we can see that most lynchings happened right after 1880 until about 1920 and then started to decrease a lot. We know that not all lynchings have been published, but we can look at the ones we certainly know about to gather information. The press also tells us that an abundance of lynchings occurred in Arkansas and Louisiana. Ida B. Wells-Barnett would say that many of these lynchings were caused because of rapes. She discusses her personal observations of the killings of black men by white men. When a black man was accused of raping a white woman, then a lynching occurred. Not only instances of rape, but even something as small as an African American speaking to a white person in the wrong way to anger them. Ida explained how these were threatening to a whole community; leaving them in fear. One of the most common lynchings we learn of through the press is of Henry Smith; a teenage boy accused of whistling at a white woman. He was tragically decapitated by the white men, and Smith’s mother chose to have an open casket to show what a horrific thing was done to him for something he did not do. Therefore, lynchings can be arbitrary from case to case, because each one happened due to something different, no matter how big or small, leaving people to act violently on their anger by publicly killing someone in front of their
It is fact that black males (and minorities) are portrayed more often in the media as criminals, as well as targeted more by the law. In a study done by The Atlantic, “Cops Tend to see Black Kids as Less Innocent Than White Kids”, hence the title. This is because “black boys are routinely estimated to be older than they are”, leaving them to more often get stopped and searched for no apparent reason. This being stop and searched because of being black is also explained in the article “The Disproportionate Risks of Driving While Black”. African American males explain their difficulties growing up as a black male who is constantly untrusted, stopped, and searched by the police. These males discuss living in fear of being stopped by the police at any time of the day. All this being said, we know that policing is unfair to minorities and the process of arresting is unequal. Cox would say that this kind of policing has to do with the capitalists’ perspective and how things should work. Basically by keeping them in power, they establish a system of racial hatred to keep blacks and whites apart. Ida B. Wells-Barnett and W.E.B. Du Bois would both say this system of policing is unfair and unjust to the African American community. They would say that everyone deserves equal opportunities in American and should not be oppressed by the law without committing any sort of