"A fifteen year old girl in Rayville, Louisiana, suspected of poisoning a white family is promptly hung on that suspicion; three reputable citizens of Memphis, Tenn., were taken from the jail and shot to death for prospering too well in business and defending themselves and property; one of the journals which was a member of your organization has been silenced by the edict of the mob which declared there shall be no such thing as “Free Speech” in the South. Within the past two weeks, honest, hardworking, land owning men and women of the race have been hung, shot, whipped and driven out of communities in Texas and Arkansas for no greater crime than that of too much prosperity. Indeed one almost fears to pick up the daily paper in which it is an unusual thing not to see recorded some tale of outrage or blood, with the Negro always the loser. The President of the United States announces himself unable to do anything to stay this “Reign of Terror,” and the race in the localities in which these outrages occur are nearly always unable to protect themselves; the local authorities will not extend to them the protection they demand. The President and Congress have been petitioned, race indignation has vented itself in impassioned oratory and public meetings. But denouncing the flag as dirty and dishonored which does not protect its citizens, and repudiating the national hymn because it is a musical lie, has not stopped the outrages. Politics have been eschewed, civil rights given up, (rights which are dearer than life itself) and even life itself has been sacrificed on the altar of Southern hate, and still there is no peace. The assassin’s bullet and ku-klux whip is still heard and the sight of the hangman’s noose with an Afro-American dangling at the end, is becoming a familiar object to the eyes of young America."
Quote Details
Added by wikiquote-import-bot
Unverified quote
0 likes
Civil rights activistsFree speech activistsWomen journalists from the United StatesWomen's rights activistsInvestigative journalists
Original Language: English
Available Languages (1)
Sources
Imported from EN Wikiquote
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Ida_B._Wells
Revision History
No revisions have been submitted for this quote.
Categories
Ida B. Wells
Ida Bell Wells-Barnett (July 16, 1862 – March 25, 1931) was an African-American investigative journalist, educator, and an early leader in the civil rights movement.
49 quotes on TrueQuotesView all quotes by Ida B. Wells →
Related Quotes
"If labor is withdrawn capital will not remain. The Afro-American is thus the backbone of the South. The white man's d…"
"The assertion has been substantiated throughout these pages that the press contains unreliable and doctored reports o…"
"the lyncher has become so bold, he has discarded his mask and the secrecy of night, has left the out-of-the-way villa…"
"If indeed “the pen is mightier than the sword,” the time has come as never before that the wielders of the pen belong…"
"If it could be established, a fearlessly edited press is one of the crying necessities of the hour. Such a journal, e…"
"How many such have gone down to a violent death without anything to chronicle the true facts in their case, will neve…"
"This is the greatest need of all among the masses of the South — the need of the press as an educator. Children of a …"
"The Afro-American needs to be taught the power of union, to realize his own strength; how to utilize that strength to…"
"The race as such must be taught the value of emigration, both to relieve the congested condition which obtains, and t…"
"For nearly twenty years lynching crimes, which stand side by side with Armenian and Cuban outrages, have been committ…"