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Ida b wells essay

She was raised in Holy Springs, Mississippi that was freed from slavery through the Emancipation Proclamation. Granted educational opportunities her enthusiasm to learn and the search for the truth grew which led her to many achievements on being a teacher, businesswomen, newspaper columnist, and investigative journalist. The best achievement though was her international anti-lynching campaign that increased awareness for change. Ida B. Wells was able to succeed in her activist’s efforts through her courageous nobility instilled by her parents, the oppression and violence she saw African Americans faced during and after Reconstruction, and her drive to implement change on the standards of gender and women’s rights. Ida was a child Of six that was under the protective care Of James and Elizabeth Wells.

Her parents were former slaves and became highly respected people of the community. James was a carpenter and to secure his civil liberties as a freed man he became involved in politics, was a Mason, and ember of the Board of Trustees of Shaw University. Elizabeth was a nurturing mother that disciplined Ida on proper behavior, how to treat others with respect, and encouraged her to go to school. They were hard workers and served as great role models for Ida for they, “ instilled in their daughter a keen sense of duty to God, family, and community” (Rooster 1 996, 15). Until the day they died, Ida watched her parents constantly work in bettering the political and economic conditions. Although Yellow fever took the life of her parents, their teachings made young Ida confident in her abilities to provide or her family.

She supported her family through teaching and to uphold the ideals her parents taught, Ida developed a sense of responsibility for the community. After the Civil War ended, southern states entered into the Reconstruction Period where newly freed African Americans had hoped to progress socially, politically, and financially. However the transition into a life of freedom was not as obtainable for most. The south enacted a new legislation known as Black Codes that was constructed to deter African Americans from freedom and force them into labor once again. Some states denied blacks the right to purchase or rent land, work in skilled professions, the right to vote, and were fined or arrested if they were unemployed or convicted of petty crimes. Helpless, African Americans were required to do unpaid labor to pay off their fines. To challenge the discrimination the African American community faced, Ida sued against the Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad Company and won. She was forcibly removed from the ladies car seat when she refused to go to smoking car.

Although the Supreme Court overruled it she stood up for her evil rights and would continue to advocate for equal rights. Suppressing blacks from equality was not the only issue they confronted, they had to fear the risk of being murdered. Many African Americans were being lynched in public spectacles due to allegations made about raping white women.

Similar to Jesus and the cross, innocent Negroes were subjected to lynching. Willfully blinded by the allegations white Christians justified the murders through religion in order to protect the community (Vivian 201 3, 543-44). Upset at the horrors happening, Wells went undercover and exposed the misconceptions bout lynching.

She explains that, “ lynching was not simply a spontaneous punishment for crimes but an act of terror perpetrated against a race of people in order to maintain power and control” (Rooster 1996, 3). The lynching not only targeted African American men, but women and children as well. The majority of the charges of rape were false accusations, and even if it were small crimes or no crime at all they would still be hung. To bring awareness on this issue that was left unsaid, Wells wrote two pamphlets Southern Horrors and Red Records, as well as made two international tours here she revealed horrifying facts in which made the United States not so civilized as thought before. Although her life was in danger at times, her investigation and courageous stance caused an increased concerned on this act of inhumanity that resulted in less lynching to be carried out.

Regardless of the notions that women must act lady like, Wells established herself as a person that deserves respect and did not subject to a male dominate society. Women were expected to be obedient to male authority, be modest and focus on the care of her children, husband, and household. InWells lawsuit with the railroad company, “ she hadn’t debated in her own mind where the boundary might lie between the silence of slighted womanhood and the act of insisting on her rights” (Davidson 2008, 70). She felt deprived from her rights and outspokenly brought it to public attention, another act women were insisted not to. In addition to her efforts in the woman’s rights movement, Wells’ protested the views on gender stereotypes. White women were regarded pure with self-respect and uninterested in sex. Whereas African American women were looked down upon as promiscuous beings, absent of having a moral influence.

The same was accounted for the men, white men could not get incriminated for rape because black women are bad and Negroes men get convicted of rape in view that they are sexually active beasts. Although it is clear that white men committed more rapes that went unacknowledged, gender standards have presented itself as another obstacle for African Americans. Amidst Idea’s crusade against lynching, many African American women joined the cause and expressed their rights through the formation of the National Association of Colored Women in 1896. Through Wells movement for change, African American women worked alongside with white women for their right to vote, create more educational opportunities, hold an active role in community development, and pass anti-lynching urge lotions.

Ida B. Wells’ fearlessness and sincerity to confront issues of social injustices regarding race and gender has made her an exceptional figure in the black community as well as to all women. Wells witnessed the oppression thousands of African Americans suffered through as they encountered discrimination or fear from mob violence.

Taught through her parents to never give up on fighting for changes for a better future, Ida used her words and voice to make society conscious of what is occurring in the U. S. She uncovers how struggling life was for African Americans transitioning into life as a freed man and inequalities that continually undermine their citizenship. Idea’s leadership in her anti-lynching campaign made it an international crime and visible for everyone to learn of the horrors that went on in silence. Further from racial discrepancies she faced, Ida also pushed for the progression of women. Her personal experiences that helped shape her noble character has earned her honorable reputation in racial equality and woman suffrage.

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