withoutsanctuary.org

[nebraska]

Following the reading by Ida B. Wells, A Red Record, 1895 and the short documentary movie by James Allen I have decided to post a response. The documentary by James Allen portrayed the harsh realities of lynching. I was well aware of the practice of lynching in the South during the later half of the 19th Century but was unaware to the degree of lynching. Ida B. Wells noted that ten thousand African Americans were killed in cold blood, and only three whites were brought to justice for their terrible crimes. Ida B. Wells noted that the reasons behind these brutal acts was a result of the white race in defense, but in reality lynching of African Americans was done for any reason. Thus, lynching became a sport of white supremacy following the Civil War. The documentary began with James Allen “In America everything is for sale”. Apparently the lives of African Americans were for sale in the minds of white Southerners. Overall, I believe the practice of lynching existed largely due to fear of white southerners. During this time and even today people are scared of change. Sadly, white southerners resisted change by murdering African Americas. Lynching was constructed and used as tool to embed fear throughout African Americans communities in the South.