Ida B. Wells Horrors of Lynching: Monologue with Narrator
Cargill, Acie
Synopsis "Ida B. Wells Horrors of Lynching: Monologue with Narrator"
This is a 7500 word monologue play with narrator about the life and thought of anti-lynch journalist and campaigner, Ida B. Wells. She was born a slave and lived in the South for some years after developing her writing skills. After she herself was threatened by a white mob for her anti-lynching writing, she moved North and settled in Chicago. She was there for the 1919 race riots called Red Summer. Her description is in this booklet.It seems that the racially-based lynchings became more prevalent after the Civil War. The slaves had been freed by the Emancipation Proclamation signed by President Abraham Lincoln, but it was not until after the Southern Confederacy surrendered that the liberty of former slaves was assured. They were still poor, and many did the same work that they did while they were slaves and sometimes for the same plantation where they were previously owned.The former slaves were not really respected as rightful human beings by many people especially in the South. They were used to the African-Americans being slaves and as such, not much better than farm cattle. No respect for them. They were just arms and legs to be used for cheap labor. The former slaves really had no place to go. No money to buy or rent a home or even buy a horse. They could maybe make a deal to be paid for that labor or more likely be leased a piece of land for a share of their crop. It was tough to get started. How could they buy seed or tools? Where would they get credit? Who would trust them?To make matters worse, many of the white residents in the South after the War were in about the same position as the former slaves. No money. No credit. No skills. No education. They barely had any social prestige, and they were afraid of losing what they did have to the African-Americans. Many of the whites did at least have homes and family. Maybe not much else. They had to work very hard and long hours just to survive. Same as the former slaves. But the whites knew each other. Sometimes for many years. Maybe generations. Maybe through churches. Maybe by being associated in clandestine organizations such as the Ku Klux Klan.
