On Lynchings Patricia Hill Collins Analysis

In the article written by Patricia Hill Collins entitled “On Lynchings,” Collins describes the life of Ida B Wells through theoretical frameworks such as Black intellectual production and Black Feminist Thought. Collins situates Wells’ lived experience as a catalyst for her activism. “Ida Wells-Barnett’s voice in these essays grows from lived experience with Black people, and not simply from theorizing about them.” (182 Collins) Wells’ intellectual and political work, as told by Collins, involved the development of African American communities through a “racial uplift.” (176 Collins) Though Collins work focuses on Wells political achievement, at the same time, Collins expresses how narratives are silenced throughout the retelling of history especially the work from Black intellectuals in particular Wells.
While Collins major focus in her article is on Wells’ political work and intersectionality, Wells’ essay entitled “The Black and White of It,” centers on the retelling of
Among the disenfranchisement, Black people were discriminated against throughout the South through a series of ‘Black codes’. The Black codes were aimed to keep free Blacks as second-class citizens. Black codes regulated all activities and behavior of Black people. Free Blacks were prohibited from basic constitutional rights of assembling in groups, bearing arms, learning to read and write, free speech or to testify against white people in court. Black codes also restricted Backs to own property, conduct business, buy and lease land, and move freely through public spaces. The codes also criminalized Black men who were out of work or who were not working at a job whites recognized. These legalized discrimination laws kept the subordination of Blacks and maintained white supremacy throughout the South and rest of the