Ida B. Wells (Research Paper Sample)

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Introduction
Some of Ida B. Wells’s famous words were, it was better for one to die while trying to eradicate injustice rather than die like a dog or rat caught in a trap.
Ida B. Wells
Ida B. Wells was a daughter of slaves, born in Holly Springs which is in Mississipppi. Her father worked in carpentry and her mother worked as a cook. The yellow fever outbreak claimed her parents’ life and a brother as well. She was catapulted into the role of sole breadwinner to her 6 younger siblings. She first worked as a teacher. She later became a successful journalist.
An incident in the train led to Ida B. Wells becoming a journalist. Previously she used to take her seat of choice on the train. She was forbade from doing so one day and sent off to the colored car. She sued Chesapeuke and Ohio Railroad. This is when she began writing articles in the newspapers. Her topic was mainly on the lynching of the blacks. It was a tactic used to subdue the blacks in direct competition with the whites. It was carried out on the pretext that they had committed crimes. These lynching directly affected her as three of her acquaintances fell victim to it. Thomas Moss, Calvin McDowell, and William Steward. These men were lynched as their grocery business posed a challenge to a white firm. In her editorials she launched a series of accusations to the whites. She blamed them of cutting down economically astute blacks.
She instigated the blacks to desert the towns that did not offer them security. Some people followed her advice while others stayed on but boycotted the white establishments. This caused financial hard times for the businesses. The transport system also suffered. A lot of false information was spread in the papers on hostile people in the East as well as diseases. Wells did not back down and she visited the East personally. She then published her first hand encounter of the living conditions in the East. Her life was in danger due to her open aggression and she carried a pistol with her. Her presses were set on fire in retaliation.
The Southern lynching was spiraling out of control. There was a terror group called the Ku Klux Klan. It took on the form of a terrorist organization. The white members wore distinct white robes and they covered their faces with masks. The ensemble was topped off with hats that were cone shaped. They did not distinguish the women, children, men and women, young or the old. As long as one was black they were victimized by this group. However, the Enforcement Act led to the downfall of the group.
Wells hired detectives when she could no longer move freely. There was an incident in Paris. A four year old girl was found dead in the forest. Her name was Myrtle Vance. Her death was blamed on Henry Smith. He was convicted for lynching even though no trial was carried s out. He was tortured with hot rods down his throat; they also burned out his eyes. When they discovered he was still breathing they set him alight. They then scrambled for bones and teeth to act as souvenirs. The bloodthirsty crowd also seized William Butler and lynched him. His only crime was bearing relation to Henry as he was his stepson (Fradin 69).
Another lynching incident that was undeserved happened to Lee Walker. He accosted two women who were riding in a wagon. He dragged one out of the wagon but the women’s screams frightened him away. He did not hurt the women. It was reported as an attempted rape. This led to a mob heading out to hunt for him. They shot an innocent man who did not stop when they called out to him although he was not the suspect. Lee was caught ten days later. He agreed to the accusation that he had confronted the women. However, he defended himself that he had not assaulted them. He claimed that his hunger had driven him to demand for something to eat from the women. He was taken to jail in Memphis. In spite of being put behind bars, the mobs did not let the issue to die down instead they lynched him. The police witnessed the whole barbaric incident but they did not lift a finger to stop it at all. On top of killing him, the crowds insisted on burning the body.
Wells was invited to give rousing lectures where she relayed the plight of the blacks living in the South. This was her quest for equality and the fight against racism. She wrote using the cover of her pen name Iola. She carried out dangerous investigative work when she went out interviewing people at the scenes of the lynching. According to the law, lynching was carried out when the black men assaulted the white women or they raped them. From her investigations she concluded that some women went out of their own volition to the black men. They were then lynched to preserve the white men’s reputations. Wells earned herself quite a rebuke for suggesting that the white women preferred the black men’s company.
Wells cited various examples that were backed up with evidence that the white women had consensual sex with the black men. There was a man, Ebenzer Fowler, who was the richest in Issaquena County. He was gunned down in the streets of Mayersville. This was done by a mob of white men who riddled his body with bullets. The man was accused of writing letters to the woman and they were intercepted as evidence of a close relationship with the woman. There were quite a number of similar cases. These stories displayed the wanton way in which the white men carried out the lynching that was baseless.
There were also reports of women cheating the law enforcers that they were romantically involved with black men. They claimed that they had been raped. This was their defense in case they bore a child of dark complexion. Such was the case in Mrs. Underwood’s story. She was the wife of a minister. When her guilt overcame her, she confessed to having made up the lie. Wells used such stories to prove that the lynch law was not the way to go when seeking for justice.
Wells went to a convention in New York and she got wind of the plot to have her killed. A price was put on her head and so she had to go on exile. She shifted base to England. She got married to Ferdinand Barnett an attorney. Among her accomplishments was the publishing of The Red Record that gave statistics on the lynching that was being carried out. She also founded the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. She and her husban...