The South resented giving the Afro-American his freedom, the ballot box and the Civil Rights Law.
IDA B. WELLSThe South resented giving the Afro-American his freedom, the ballot box and the Civil Rights Law.
IDA B. WELLSThe city of Memphis has demonstrated that neither character nor standing avails the Negro if he dares to protect himself against the white man or become his rival.
IDA B. WELLSOne had better die fighting against injustice than die like a dog or a rat in a trap.
IDA B. WELLSThere must always be a remedy for wrong and injustice if we only know how to find it.
IDA B. WELLSThose who commit the murders write the reports.
IDA B. WELLSThus lynch law held sway in the far West until civilization spread into the Territories and the orderly processes of law took its place.
IDA B. WELLSThe lesson this teaches and which every Afro-American should ponder well, is that a Winchester rifle should have a place of honor in every black home, and it should be used for that protection which the law refuses to give.
IDA B. WELLSAlthough lynchings have steadily increased in number and barbarity during the last twenty years, there has been no single effort put forth by the many moral and philanthropic forces of the country to put a stop to this wholesale slaughter.
IDA B. WELLSThe appetite grows for what it feeds on.
IDA B. WELLSIn fact, for all kinds of offenses – and, for no offenses – from murders to misdemeanors, men and women are put to death without judge or jury; so that, although the political excuse was no longer necessary, the wholesale murder of human beings went on just the same.
IDA B. WELLSThe nineteenth century lynching mob cuts off ears, toes, and fingers, strips off flesh, and distributes portions of the body as souvenirs among the crowd.
IDA B. WELLSIt is extremely rough to follow through with my goals, but I felt a responsibility to show the world what the African Americans are facing through this rough patch.
IDA B. WELLSThe Afro-American is not a bestial race. If this work can contribute in any way towards proving this, and at the same time arouse the conscience of the American people to a demand for justice to every citizen, and punishment by law for the lawless,
IDA B. WELLSThe alleged menace of universal suffrage having been avoided by the absolute suppression of the negro vote, the spirit of mob murder should have been satisfied and the butchery of negroes should have ceased.
IDA B. WELLSLynching is color line murder.
IDA B. WELLSThe only times an Afro-American who was assaulted got away has been when he had a gun and used it in self-defense.
IDA B. WELLS