In this blog I will discuss lynch law and the effects that it had on the Afro-American community by Ida Wells.
Lynching was a form of cruel and unusual punishment which was directly effected by the Afro-American community for either crimes they didn't commit or for small crimes that didn't seem to fit the punishment: such as defending their property. We can see an example of this from Wells when she states "By law the wounding of a white person,as compared with the killing of a white person,was not punishable by death. Nontheless, on March 9th, lynch law prevailed, and between two and three o'clock in the morning the three men, who were not yet convicted by law, were removed from their jail cells, put in a railroad car, carried north of the city and shot to death" (Ida Wells p3). In this passage,Wells explains how three of her best friends were killed. They just so happened to own a store that was in competition with another store that was operated by white men. An altercation had broke out which led to a shoot out between the men. The Afro-American men were just defending their property.
Wells tried to except the fact that lynching was just a punishment for horrible rape crimes, but soon came to the realization that it was an act to maintain power and control by the white man. She states "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. She began to see that these ritualized murders were acts of violence and intimidation designed to retard the progress of African Americans in their efforts to participate more fully in social, political, and economic life" (Ida Wells p3)
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ReplyDeleteHello Michelle,
ReplyDeleteI like how you give direction to the reader by introducing in the first sentence what the writing is about, but I think you should consider revising your paragraph structures and introduce the text. For example, the first sentence should be part of the introduction followed by the thesis statement. I like how you defined your keyword "Lynching". For your quotations I think it would be easier for the reader to understand if you introduce your quote first, by explaining how it relates with the context, and then paraphrase in your own words. For citation is not necessary to write the "p" for page just (Wells 3), but otherwise is fine.This blog is interesting because it shows us how African Americans were punished by been lynched with violence and no consideration.