The Red Record: Tabulated Statistics & Alleged Causes of Lynching in the United States was published by Ida B. Wells in 1895. It is a historical account of lynchings that took place in the United States following the Civil War. The Red Record explores how white society used lynchings to maintain power and subjugate Black Americans after slavery was abolished. Wells uses public records and personal accounts to draw attention to the violence and criminality of lynchings. She also specifically seeks white testimonies to lift a mirror to the hypocrisy of lynchings and white supremacy.

Wells, a Black investigative journalist, was born enslaved in 1862, and she and her family were liberated by the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863. She attended Rust University, a historically Black college. Wells was a leading civil rights activist and spent her life challenging racism. She was one of the founding members of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and an active participant in women’s suffrage efforts, though she frequently experienced racist discrimination in first-wave feminist circles. Since her death in 1931, she has become one of the most celebrated figures in both anti-racist and feminist writing and activism.

This guide utilizes the 2020 paperback edition by Read & Co. History.

Content Warning: The source material contains graphic descriptions of enslavement, racist violence, rape, torture, murder, child abuse, and outdated/racist language.

Summary

In The Red Record: Tabulated Statistics and Alleged Causes of Lynching in the United States, Ida B. Wells provides a detailed account of lynchings that occurred during Reconstruction (1865-1877). Wells was born into slavery. After Emancipation, she studied to become a teacher and later pursued a career as an investigative journalist and researcher. The Red Record draws attention to the prevalence of lynchings during Reconstruction and how these criminal acts were condoned by racist systemic practices and attitudes. Wells makes a pointed and condemnatory case about how white society utilizes lynchings to maintain power. Using the testimonies of white men published in Southern newspapers, the journalist exposes the unfettered power held by white mobs. Her work centers on three major themes: Racist Violence as a Mechanism for Power, Mob Mentality and White Immunity, and Research and Testimony as Activism.

In the Preface, activist and orator Frederick Douglass compliments Wells’s work as a researcher and her commitment to factual reporting. Chapter 1 outlines the problem with lynch law and how lynchings became such a common part of Southern life. Wells asserts that slavery created a need for Black bodies to perform labor, creating an incentive to keep Black enslaved workers alive. After Emancipation, this interest was lost. White Southerners were uncomfortable with Black citizens gaining access to the same freedoms they possessed. White mobs lynched Black citizens for a variety of reasons, often without any cause at all. Wells outlines three reasons used by white citizens to justify these vicious crimes: to prevent race riots, to prevent Black people from voting and changing white society, and to punish Black men accused of raping white women. In Chapter 2, the journalist records the names, where available, of lynching victims and their alleged crimes in 1892 and 1893. She draws attention to the wide range of offenses and misdemeanors that led to violent punishment, accusations that were routinely devoid of evidence and punished without a trial.

In Chapter 3, Wells outlines the social justification for capital punishment and details cases that expose the hypocrisy of lynchings within this justification. She argues that the social function of the death penalty is to eliminate future threats to the public by removing dangerous criminals from the population. Two separate cases involving Black men with intellectual disabilities reveal that lynchings performed by white mobs have little to do with securing public safety. Chapter 4 carries this point further by detailing the lynchings of innocent Black men who dared to have relationships with white women or who were killed for merely existing. White mobs killed the alleged offenders in cold blood, as well as their family members, innocent bystanders whom they suspected of being connected to the victim, and other Black men used as scapegoats when offenders could not be identified.

Chapter 5 exposes how Black citizens were lynched for minor offenses even after being determined innocent. Some were killed for suspected crimes, such as well poisoning or the deaths of hogs, while others were murdered for daring to speak disrespectfully to a white person. Wells shares how mobs had impunity, even defying the mayor of Roanoke, Virginia, and opening fire on government soldiers. In Chapter 6, Wells directly addresses the charge of rape, which was widely applied to Black citizens in lynching cases. She argues that this charge is used to describe a wide variety of interactions between Black men and white women, including consensual relationships. She cites one particularly egregious instance in which a Black man who asked two white women for something to eat was accused of rape. Wells argues that the widespread focus on protecting white women is ironic considering the number of sexual assaults committed by white men against Black women.

In Chapter 7, Wells shows how bringing international attention to the cause of lynching can help dismantle the violent practice. European readers were appalled to read about racist violence in the American South, and their monetary concerns held sway over Southern legislation. Chapter 8 admonishes the Women’s Christian Temperance Union and their leader, Frances Willard, for failing to speak out against lynching.

Chapter 9 provides another record of lynchings published by the Chicago Tribune. In Chapter 10, Wells emphasizes the importance of public records, testimony, and sharing facts to dismantle racism and discrimination. She calls for readers to disseminate facts and advocate for change.