I felt that one had better die fighting against injustice than to die like a dog or rat in a trap.
IDA B. WELLSI felt that one had better die fighting against injustice than to die like a dog or rat in a trap.
IDA B. WELLSWhite men lynch the offending Afro-American, not because he is a despoiler of virtue, but because he succumbs to the smiles of white women.
IDA B. WELLSThe South is brutalized to a degree not realized by its own inhabitants, and the very foundation of government, law and order, are imperilled.
IDA B. WELLSThe South resented giving the Afro-American his freedom, the ballot box and the Civil Rights Law.
IDA B. WELLSI came home every Friday afternoon, riding the six miles on the back of a big mule. I spent Saturday and Sunday washing and ironing and cooking for the children and went back to my country school on Sunday afternoon.
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. WELLSThe mob spirit has grown with the increasing intelligence of the Afro-American.
IDA B. WELLSThe Afro-American is not a bestial race.
IDA B. WELLSThe emergency no longer existing, lynching gradually disappeared from the West.
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. WELLSI had already determined to sell my life as dearly as possible if attacked. I felt if I could take one lyncher with me, this would even up the score a little bit.
IDA B. WELLSThose who commit the murders write the reports.
IDA B. WELLSThe people must know before they can act, and there is no educator to compare with the press.
IDA B. WELLSI had an instinctive feeling that the people who have little or no school training should have something coming into their homes weekly which dealt with their problems in a simple, helpful way… so I wrote in a plain, common-sense way on the things that concerned our people.
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. WELLSSomebody must show that the Afro-American race is more sinned against than sinning, and it seems to have fallen upon me to do so.
IDA B. WELLS