The Red Record: Tabulated Statistics and Alleged Causes of Lynching in the United States

“The Red Record” by Ida B. Wells-Barnett is a historical account written in the late 19th century. This work serves as a powerful and harrowing examination of lynching in the United States, particularly focusing on its impact on African Americans in the South. The text collects and analyzes statistics regarding lynching incidents, scrutinizing the justification of such acts and providing commentary on the societal implications and underlying racial biases of that era. The opening of the pamphlet establishes the context for Wells-Barnett's investigation, addressing the severe moral indifference of American society towards lynchings that had become alarmingly commonplace by 1894. In her preface, letters from notable figures, such as Frederick Douglass, emphasize the need for her work to expose the grave injustices faced by Black individuals, given the overwhelming statistics of murders without judicial process. The beginning chapters outline various excuses historically employed by white southerners to justify such brutal acts, probing into the concepts of racial violence, societal complicity, and the deeply entrenched systems of oppression that not only allowed for but effectively encouraged such lawlessness.