The Red Record

<br />After completing her pamphlet <i>Southern Horrors</i> (1992), Ida Bell Wells—aided by the excellent statistics on file at the Chicago Tribune—continued her research on lynching, and, in 1895, published a more extensive work, <i>The Red Record</i>, which constitutes her definitive treatment of the extrajudicial killings of black people in the U.S.A, principally in the Southern states. <br /><br /><i>The Red Record</i>, a classic both of black resistance and of “muckraking” investigative journalism, is an effective combination of: 1) sociological analysis (lynching is mostly about power, a retaliation not for rape but for consensual sex between the races), 2) practical exhortation (black people must fight back with their economic power and protect themselves with firearms when necessary), 2) a wealth of supportive statistics (demonstrating that lynching punishes lesser crimes too, such as burglary, thievery, and barn burning), 3) a vigorous defense against attacks against the earlier <i>Southern Horrors</i> (mostly initiated by Frances Willard of the Women’s Christian Temperance Association), and 4) a series of disturbing, carefully crafted narratives which convey the savagery of lynching in all its horrors. <br /><br />It is these narratives which constitute the beating heart of Miss Wells book. I will end with the conclusion of her account of the lynching of C.J. Miller, at Bardwell, Kentucky, July 7, 1893—on the flimsiest of evidence—for the murder of two young girls, Mary and Ruby Ray. <br /><br />Notice how the narrative echos the Passion of the Christ: Mr. Ray (the girl’s father) standing in for Pilate, the stripping of the garments, the loincloth, the log-chain instead of a cross, the procession through the streets to the place of execution, the faintings and fallings, etc., etc, and the mention of Christianity at the end:<blockquote> <i>At three o'clock the mob rushed to the jail to secure the prisoner. Mr. Ray had changed his mind about the promised burning; he was still in doubt as to the prisoner's guilt. He again addressed the crowd to that effect, urging them not to burn Miller, and the mob heeded him so far, that they compromised on hanging instead of burning, which was agreed to by Mr. Ray. There was a loud yell, and a rush was made for the prisoner. He was stripped naked, his clothing literally torn from his body, and his shirt was tied around his loins. Some one declared the rope was a "white man's death," and a log-chain, nearly a hundred feet in length, weighing over one hundred pounds, was placed round Miller's neck and body, and he was led and dragged through the streets of the village in that condition followed by thousands of people. He fainted from exhaustion several times, but was supported to the platform where they first intended burning him.<br /><br />The chain was hooked around his neck, a man climbed the telegraph pole and the other end of the chain was passed up to him and made fast to the cross-arm. Others brought a long forked stick which Miller was made to straddle. By this means he was raised several feet from the ground and then let fall. The first fall broke his neck, but he was raised in this way and let fall a second time. Numberless shots were fired into the dangling body, for most of that crowd were heavily armed, and had been drinking all day.<br /><br />Miller's body hung thus exposed from three to five o'clock, during which time, several photographs of him as he hung dangling at the end of the chain were taken, and his toes and fingers were cut off. His body was taken down, placed on the platform, the torch applied, and in a few moments there was nothing left of C.J. Miller save a few bones and ashes. Thus perished another of the many victims of Lynch Law, but it is the honest and sober belief of many who witnessed the scene that an innocent<br />man has been barbarously and shockingly put to death in the glare of the nineteenth-century civilization, by those who profess to believe in Christianity, law and order.</i> </blockquote>

Ida B. Wells Barnett is a fascinating figure that was born a slave, but during Reconstruction acquired an education due to the persistence of her parents. She was a teacher, but became a journalist when she started analyzing statistics around lynching. Southern Horrors was her earliest endeavor in the early 1890s. The Red Record came two years later as a deeper exploration of extrajudicial killings and why they occurred. The book is organized into sections that mix both statistical fact (culled from white probably under-reported sources in order to underscore the widespread nefariousness of the act of lynching) and anecdotal evidence as described by witnesses. Wells communicates in an almost dry, journalistic voice that borders on objectivity. but never quite gets there. Clearly the material is very dense, and painful to read. There are stories that will cause emotional pain. They should, especially in matters that are instructive such as the definition of lynching. I thought that lynching specifically referred to hanging, but apparently burning, shooting, dragging through the street, and hanging would all qualify as lynching. The Red Record is an important, instructive work that will embarrass whites, and hurt everyone that reads this as a reprehensible chapter of American history.

A longer treatment on the subject of lynchings by Ida B. Wells-Barnett. It should be read after <a href="https://goodreads.com/book/show/6970597.Southern_Horrors_Lynch_Law_in_All_Its_Phases" title="Southern Horrors Lynch Law in All Its Phases by Ida B. Wells-Barnett" rel="noopener">Southern Horrors: Lynch Law in All Its Phases</a>. Wells-Barnett uses cotemporary news sources and data to show why Black people were lynched in America. Two of the chapters in the book presents data on the people who were lynched, date, location, and for what "alleged crime" that was committed. The descriptions of the lynchings were very vivid and brutal. Wells-Barrett finds that 69% Blacks were lynched for "crimes" other than rape between the years 1882-1894. One of the powerful sections of this book was the testimony of a white man named Rev. King who witnessed a lynching and was disgusted by it, especially when he saw children were brought to attend. When he demanded that the mob send the children home the mob responded "let them learn a lesson". A sad and terrible example of how racism is passed down to the next generation.

The shooter in the recent Charleston massacre reportedly said: <blockquote>"You rape our women, and you're taking over our country."</blockquote> In the aftermath, the mayor claimed to not know much about the treatment of blacks in South Carolina because it was not taught in schools. That prompted people to create a reading list. This was one of the books I noticed from the list.<br /><br />It documents lynchings in the early 1890s. Further, it describes in detail the newspaper reporting about some of the events such as the original accusation, actions taken prior to, the killing, and actions taken afterwards. (There were too many to document them all.) The simple plea here is for justice. Not retribution or actions taken against those who unjustifiably lynched. But for this country to stop allowing the murder of people either before they are tried or after a court found them innocent. One of the most powerful was a gentleman who was about to be lynched when a foreman told the mob that the person they were about to hang could not have done it because he was with the foreman, they let him go. The flimsiest of evidence would have seen him hung, but an eyewitness of the right skin color was enough to prove guilt or innocence. <br /><br />In some respects I could see Ida B. Wells-Barnett might find the current legal climate where our people are arrested and found guilty at exorbitant rates over our peers who commit the crimes at the same rates disconcerting. But compared to her own time, we do have it better.<br /><br />The first section explains that under slavery, killing one resulted in a many hundred dollar loss. So, one would beat a slave enough to break him, but try to avoid killing him. The first motivation for killing blacks was to prevent race riots, and for some reason the victims of these often surprisingly had no weapons with which to defend themselves. The second motivation was to prevent voting and established control over the Southern states. The third motivation was protecting the virtue of white women. <strong>THIS.</strong> The Charleston shooter killed three men and six women to protect the virtue of white women. In 120 years we have made little progress.<br /><br />While a teenager I found a death threat letter signed "KKK" saying they would kill my father for dating mother from about 40 years ago. People stare at me when out in public with a pretty fair skinned girl, especially when she hugs or kisses me. But a hundred years ago, my father or myself would have been hung from a tree, shot, and burned for anything like this. A project noted below has a listing for the reason for lynching as "Writing Letters to White Girl."<br /><br />The burning thing was curious to me. So I looked up attitudes on cremation in Christianity. The dot I needed connecting was that when Christ returns, the dead would be re-animated and join him. Burning these people was a deliberate attempt to prevent any possibility of these people joining Christ. So, not only were they killed but they were prevented salvation? So very low.<br /><br />Was it depressing to read this? Yes.<br /><br />Was it worth reading? Yes. The <a href="http://www.maryturner.org/" rel="nofollow noopener">Mary Turner Project</a> has a description of a lynching 20 years after the <em>Red Record</em>. Plus it looks like they are building upon the work of Ida and others.

This courageous woman, a journalist and activist, wrote a short piece on the ‘Lynch Law;’ allowing southern white society to circumvent the courtroom and mete out punishment in various uncivil ways to this minority.<br /><br />The Lynch Law, as with all laws, was the flavor of the decade ‘rule’ during this period (1890-1899).<br /><br />It basically justified the killing of many innocent black-skinned people. All allegations held water. So many, too many, innocent black folk were killed, shamelessly. And without due process.<br /><br />The methods employed to eliminate blacks during this time included shooting, hanging a person in front of their respective community, or death by a civilian mob of white people with impunity.<br /><br />Really, another disgusting chapter in our history, that remains skewed.<br /> <br />And today, are we so far away from the prejudices of yesterday?<br /><br />Animals in the wild behave better than humans do.<br /><br />Another necessary read.

Contains an interesting listing of U.S. lynchings from 1892 and 1894, as well as details surrounding the more heinous of them. The forward is by Frederick Douglass. The most startling find is that lynchings occurred in most of these cases despite police custody. In other words, local law enforcement always held the accused for questioning... but in each case, a group of rogue men were able to threaten the police and wrestle blacks into their hands. Police brutality didn't enable lynchings; instead a technologically weak police precinct was constantly under attack by and bent to mob rule. And what vicious, blood-thirsty mobs these were. The accounts here are very similar to the many European historic records of witch hunts. <br /><br />Wells talent as a writer is evident with 4 quotes :<br /><br />"To justify their own barbarism, they assume a chivalry which they do not possess."<br /><br />"Thousands of brave black men went to their graves, exemplifying the one by dying for the other."<br /><br />"Whatever faults and failings other nations may have in their dealings with their own subjects or with other people, no other civilized nation stands condemned before the world with a series of crimes so peculiarly national."<br /><br />“We have associated too long with the white man not to have copied his vices as well as his virtues.”<br /><br /><br />.

This is the type of book that really doesn't merit anything less than 5 stars, but you can't say you enjoyed it. Wells book should be read simply for what it tells you and how it educates you. Lynching, it seems, is not being taught much or well in schools. For instance, I have students who have no idea about "Strange Fruit". They know what lynching is, but seem to have an idea that it was a hiccup. <br /><br />They should read Wells book.<br /><br />My teachers made sure we knew about it, looking back this was most likely because one of them was a descendent of Sally Hemmings (and Jefferson) and one had grand parents who were murdered in the Holocaust. But even with that education there was much here that I didn't know. For instance, some people were lynched for wife beating. Wife beating. For proposing. <br /><br />Honesty, just read it.

I’ve heard about and read snippets about the amazing journalist Ida B. Wells for a few years. In 2021 our local Woodrow Wilson High School changed it’s name to Ida B. Wells-Barnett High School (aka Wells High School). I’ve been participating in learning more about Black history for the second year in a row via “28 Days of Black History,” and February 22nd’s read was about Ida B. Wells. They always add plenty of more sources to get in even deeper, and this time this pamphlet was mentioned. I was surprised to easily find it available to read for free at <a target="_blank" rel="noopener nofollow" href="http://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a>. I started to read it, and made the choice to read the entire pamphlet, despite how horrendous the topic. <br /><br />What an amazing feat for Ms. Wells-Barnett to have traveled to gather and read so many newspaper accounts from most states. Then to gather, arrange, print and share these shameful occurrences. How mob mentality can take over, when a crime or slight “might” have happened, the feeling that “someone” has to pay, even if it isn’t the actual suspect, then all manners of wretched murder is applied. It’s a tough topic, but I recommend it, especially for US citizens to know, and grow.

There are so many aspects of history in the United States that are not openly discussed. The ramifications of an open discussion would lead people to recognize the true horror that is the African American experience in this country. I always find it fascinating that compared to the horrors of the past, Black people should now feel relatively safe, but that isn’t the case for many. Why? Because many of us are very aware of the past, the injustices that occurred and the scars that have been passed through history because of such violence. Scars that are never given the opportunity to heal. The Red Record was published in 1895 and is an open discussion by Wells of the Lynch Law of the time. Why is it so powerful? Because it lays bare the complete absence of value on the lives of African Americans. Because it proves that an African American could die at the whim of the mob, body flaming on the ground, or swinging from a tree while riddled with bullets. That most of the time law and order did not take place and no one was ever charged with the lynching. No one was ever persecuted. But a life was taken and everyone went on about their lives. Except for the women, children and family members whose loved one was accused and then viciously murdered.<br /><br />Some people don’t want to talk about this part of history. It's easier to imagine that a wrong was made right when slaves were set free and that there was a rough patch in time when the Civil Rights movement was necessary. No one likes to talk about the time in between. I needed to read The Red Record because I needed to see the proof of that time. I have made a choice to confront history head on so I can better confront the position the United States is currently in as a country. It's disgusting that a book written so many years ago is so very relevant to 2017. It provides a bridge of understanding with painstaking reflection. But in a time when people are asking for their lives to matter, it’s easy to look back and see that for a long time they haven’t. The proof is in the history and we still have to keep fighting for change.<br /><br />This book is a necessary read. Especially now when the fight for social justice still rages and lives are still taken. Wells was a voice for justice then and her words still matter now. I give this 5 out of 5 stars.<br />

A disturbing detail of lynching and the complete lack of interest by the non-black community in the late 19th century. It is truly frightening that this was somehow acceptable and nearly "the norm" for a considerable length of time. Wells' indignation comes through clearly, however, the statistical evidence of the criminal activity makes for a dry read.