Ida B. Wells Southern Horrors and Other Writings

Ida B. Wells uses a straight-forward writing style to boldly prove multiple arguments against the wrongful accusations of the lynching, rape, and the gruesome murders set forth by the vile southerners. Wells distinguish her examples and theories to disprove the justifications of lynching made by Southerners. Within her book, Wells portrays the views of African-Americans in the 1890s. Since the southerners allowed widespread lynching; while cowardly hiding behind the excuse of "defending the honor of its women." (pg.61, 2nd paragraph) The charge of rape was the common excuse used in many cases to lynch innocent African-American men. “The fact that only one-third of the 728 victims to mobs have been charged with rape, to say nothing of those of that one-third who were innocent of the charge.” (pg. 61, 2nd paragraph) The victim's innocence was often proved after his death. Wells states that the raping of white women by Negro men is an outright lie. Wells supports her statements with several stories about mutual relationships between white women and black men. White men are free to have relationships with colored women, but colored men will receive death for relationships with white women. As seen by Wells, the excuses used by white southerners, to torture and murder African-Americans were false. In no way can these kinds of crimes ever be truly justified because of the victim's crimes. The most obvious reasons these crimes occur are out of hate and fear. Differences between groups of people have always caused fear of the unknown, which translates into resentment. Whites no longer depended on African-American slave labor for their income. When African Americans were slaves they were considered "property," and “obviously, it was more profitable to sell slaves than to kill them" (pg. 10, 1st paragraph). With all moderation of "property" and "profit" lifted whites during and after Reconstruction were able to freely give into their fear and hatred by tormenting and