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Ida B. Wells And The Anti-Lynching Movement

1255 Words6 Pages

“A woman and a movement: Ida B. Wells and the Anti- Lynching Movement”

Cultural constructs that are detrimental to the unity and fairness of all are historically marked by social-political movements that cause an upheaval of old systems. During these tense and often conflictual movements, there are certain voices that stand out among the throng of dramatic and biased opinions. During the anti-lynching movement, Ida B. Wells was one of those voices. She utilized her journalistic capacity and position as author to spread her message of dissention against lynching and the unfair prosecution and deaths of African Americans. Her openly uncensored publications, ’Southern Horrors: Lynch Law in all its phases, and ‘The Red …show more content…

In 1884 she was asked by the conductor of the Chesapeake & Ohio Railroad Company to give up her seat on the train to a white man…][3] She refused and was forcibly removed from the car. She filed suit against the railroad company, and the whole incident brought to herself enough attention as to help launch her journalistic career. […Many papers wanted to hear about the experiences of the 25-year-old school teacher who stood up against white supremacy.][3] By 1889, Ida became co-owner/editor of an anti-segregation newspaper, Headlight and Free …show more content…

I think that even though disturbing, Ida’s blatant exposure of details such as these make her writing all the more powerful. I can imagine information getting lost in a sea of media, and having there be some really stark details would get a message to stand out. I think Ida knew that, and that she took it upon herself to invest in learning a deeper level of the truth to spread a strong message that resonated with people. Her writing sheds light on some very ugly details of murder and corruption that thrived in secrecy. I think she knew that the more these details were exposed, the more that people wouldn’t be able to ignore them forever.

While Ida B Wells was noted in history as being a part of the anti-lynching movement, I would argue that she deserves more credit for her journalistic capacity in spreading a message that went deeper than the average information about lynching at the time than actually furthering the acquisition of civil rights for African Americans. She exposed the hidden agenda behind lynching and how it was used mainly to thwart any economic or social progress of blacks by murdering them over petty crimes or false

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