The Truth Behind the American Society

Written by Bianca Santini

“The way to right wrongs is to turn the light of truth upon them”, a quote by Ida
B. Wells that accurately represents the racial injustice we feel in the south. It is May 26,
1935, just two days after ‘The Offence’. 8 negros have been lynched since the ‘Free
Speech’ writing was published. They got three men from Anniston, Atlanta, one near
New Orleans, and three in Clarksville, Georgia. All of these men were hung and then
shot after they had passed, three died because they ‘killed a white man’, and five died
after ‘raping a white woman’.
Whether or not these men did or did not commit these crimes, there has not been
sufficient evidence to convict them nor brutally kill them. Here in 1935, things are
supposed to be more equal, we are not supposed to kill 8 negro men because of
accusations and rumors. There are hundreds of thousands of people in the black
community who write and speak up about the racial conflict still continuing. A
significant writer, Ida B. Wells, the author of “Southern Horrors” has written about
countless events on racial injustice and inequalities. Wells writes about race-related
lynchings, and the stories behind it. The purpose of her book is to uncover the ragged
truth behind our american society.
Another place that we can see racial injustice comes from a fictional source,
however, this novel was written based on real american life from 1933-1935. This is
Harper Lee’s famous novel, “To Kill A Mockingbird”. Why it’s possible to connect the
current racial injustice to a up-and-coming novel, is because of the Tom Robbinson
trial; we can plainly see the bias towards the white people habiting the town and the
white people's claims against him. The simple, connected town, while ‘accepting’, they
still held their ‘racial harmony’ and existed in separate lives. Lee portrayed a blissful,
propsperous town and the growing up of our two main characters, Scout and Jem.
However, she was able to show us how things really worked in the town. She showed the
ignorance of the blatant racism and the predjiduce towards the white folks of Maycomb.
Not enough people have come to terms with the hardships and low quality of life
the negros have been living for centuries. With the negro lynchings, to the
discrimination of a life, we as caucaisan folks must stand up to the racial abuse. Events
including the Harlem Race Riot just a coupld weeks ago to bills like the Todd bill that
was signed off on February 12th. The Todd bill was formed in order to ban mixed-race
marriages in Washington state. There was also a major lynching with 700 white men,
women, and children who attacked and killed 2 teenage negro boys. All our hearts
should go out to the souls and families of 15- year old Ernest Collins and 16- year old
Benny Mitchell. 700 is a large number of people, it would make sense if some were
arrested or convicted of murder. None. Not one of those people, including children,
were ever questioned or arrested for the Lynching of these two teenage boys who still
had their whole lives ahead of them.
The guilt and severity of this issue has gone too far for voices not to be heard.
While we have gained progress on the public ethnic outburts and the candid bigotry,
that does not mean that it is gone. American society builds itself off of its hierarchy, and
it’s clear to see who’s on top and who is on bottom. So the only real way to flourish and
live by our created amendments, is “to right wrongs [and] turn the light of truth upon
them” -Ida B. Wells.