Brave men do not gather by thousands to torture and murder a single individual, so gagged and bound he cannot make even feeble resistance or defense.
Ida B. WellsRead
Although lynchings have steadily increased in number and barbarity during the last twenty years, there has been no single effort put forth by the many moral and philanthropic forces of the country to put a stop to this wholesale slaughter.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote highlights the complacency of society in the face of increasing violence against marginalized groups.
Ida B. Wells emphasizes the alarming rise in lynchings, calling out the moral failure of society to respond to such atrocities. She critiques the lack of action from philanthropic and moral leaders, pointing out that despite the growing barbarity of these acts, there remains a disturbing inaction to prevent such injustices.
Themes
LynchingsInjusticeMoral FailureSocietyActivism
In practice
Example use cases
During a speech about civil rights, one might quote Wells to emphasize the importance of taking action against injustice.
More from Ida B. Wells
All quotes →The miscegenation laws of the South only operate against the legitimate union of the races; they leave the white man free to seduce all the colored girls he can, but it is death to the colored man who yields to the force and advances of a similar attraction in white women. White 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. WellsRead
I am only a mouthpiece through which to tell the story of lynching and I have told it so often that I know it by heart. I do not have to embellish; it makes its own way.
Ida B. WellsRead
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