Read the following passage from journalist and anti-lynching crusader Ida B. Wells-Barnett's 1895 pamphlet *A Red Record*:
"Our country's national crime is lynching. It is not the creature of an hour, the sudden outburst of uncontrolled fury, or the unspeakable outrage of an insane mob. It represents the cool, calculating deliberation of intelligent people who openly avow that there is an 'unwritten law' that justifies them in putting human beings to death without complaint under oath, without trial by jury, without opportunity to make defense, and without right of appeal."
Based on this passage, which of the following best describes Wells-Barnett's analysis of lynching?
- It was a deliberate, organized system that denied Black people their constitutional rights to due process.Answer
- BIt was a spontaneous and temporary reaction by local communities to protect white womanhood in the absence of courts.
- CIt was an uncontrolled outburst of anger by mobs reacting to rapid economic competition.
- DIt was a necessary, law-abiding effort by citizens to maintain order when formal local governments failed.
Answer
It was a deliberate, organized system that denied Black people their constitutional rights to due process.
The correct option is correct because Wells-Barnett defines lynching as a calculated practice of putting people to death without a trial, defense, or appeal, which directly violates the core constitutional principles of legal due process.
Step-by-Step Solution
Key Concept
Racial Terror and the Anti-Lynching Movement