No matter how heinous the act of the lynchers may have been, it was discussed only for a day or so and then dismissed from the attention of the public. In one or two instances the governor has called attention to the crime, but the civil processes entirely failed to bring the murderers to justice.
Seem familiar? The things that stood out the most to me about this week’s readings is how they ring true not only in the context of the abolitionist movement, but in today’s society. How many times in the past year, two years, five years have we seen people attacked and murdered for the color of their skin? We rarely see the victims of these crimes meet the light of justice. In that sense, Ida B. Wells’ “A Red Record” reads like a piece that could be published today. Wells speaks of many things, but very simply states at the end that “we do insist that the punishment is not the same for both classes of criminals.” In fact, she gives three excuses made up by white men to justify the tens of thousands of lynchings that took place in the decades following the Emancipation.
- Repression of and stamping out race riots
- Maintaining a “white man’s government”
- Vengeance for crimes against women
These three excuses once again feel eerily close to the views of what we would today consider the political far-right – and yet, in the 1800’s and today have no basis or evidence to support them.
I’d like to end on a slightly more humorous note: In Sojourner Truth’s 1851 speech, she literally implies that God and woman created and bore Jesus, so what was the man’s part? I feel this way a lot in my everyday life and hope you maybe all giggled too.
What an engaging post-Annabeth, thank you. I agree completely, it’s shocking, yet not at all surprising, how little some things have changed since this and the other writings this week were written, in fact, if they were written in today’s language I could imagine them being published with similar themes and content, with the lack of accountability for crimes committed at the hands of white folk done to harm people of color, as we see so often, and even the nation, as we saw in the recent riots on the capitol.
I also found some sad humor in Truth’s line about women and God bringing Jesus into the world, poignant truths become even more powerful when there is a bite of stinging humor added, and she managed to tell harsh truths with a seriousness combined with humor that demonstrates multitudes of talent and power.