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
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.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote highlights the hypocrisy of miscegenation laws that protect white women's virtue while allowing white men to exploit women of color without consequence.
Ida B. Wells discusses the deeply ingrained racial inequalities and the unjust nature of the miscegenation laws in the Southern United States. These laws are portrayed as favoring white men who can freely engage with women of color while criminalizing men of color for reciprocating this attraction towards white women. This reveals a shocking double standard that reflects broader societal values of race, sex, and power during that era, shedding light on the violent implications for African American men who dare to cross the racial divide.
Themes
MiscegenationLawsRaceHypocrisyInjustice
In practice
Example use cases
This quote can be shared during discussions on racial inequalities in a history class.
More from Ida B. Wells
All quotes →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.
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
Similar quotes
I started really noticing, more and more, how men will plagiarize and take credit for women's work... I've noticed that it just happens a lot.
Dolores HuertaRead
Relationships are eternal. The 'separation' is another chapter in the relationship. Often, letting go of the old form of the relationship becomes a lesson in pure love much deeper than any would have learned had the couple stayed together.
Marianne WilliamsonRead
Why can't women get along? Because we're afraid. We're afraid to be vulnerable. We're afraid to be soft. We're afraid to be hurt. But most of all, we're afraid of our power. So we become controlling and aggressive and vicious.
Iyanla VanzantRead
Feminine intuition? Is that what you wanted the robot for? You men. Faced with a woman reaching a correct conclusion and unable to accept the fact that she is your equal or superior in intelligence, you invent something called feminine intuition.
Isaac AsimovRead
We cannot even let the other person into our hearts or minds unless we empty ourselves. We can truly listen to him or truly hear her only out of emptiness.
M. Scott PeckRead
One of the things that happens in our regular lives is that when we're in moments of pain or feeling alone, we may hesitate to reach out to others because we may think - they're not going through the same experiences I am.
Vivek MurthyRead