Southern Horrors: Lynch Law in All Its Phases - Softcover

These shocking accounts of lynching within the Southern States during the late nineteenth century remain no less poignant today than when they were first recorded.

A terrible reminder of the violent consequences which ingrained racism has upon society, this book unflinchingly tells of the various laws throughout the USA which allowed crowds to hunt, beat and hang black Americans. This process of lynching persisted for decades, with several communities purposely photographing and publicising their aftermath.

Prefaced with a letter from the anti-slavery and black rights campaigner Frederick Douglass, this book describes the various incidents which resulted from authorities turning a blind eye to the violence building in the Southern United States. It is an unabashed exposure of the depravity to which the indulgence of prejudiced attitudes leads.

Valuable as a history of one of the darker chapters in the history of the USA, Southern Horrors is not a pleasant read. It is however eye-opening, informative and necessary reading for anyone desiring knowledge of the violence which white supremacist groups such as the Ku Klux Klan would purposely incite, encourage and perpetrate.

The author and compiler of this text is Ida B. Wells - a famous black journalist and civil rights leader whose fearless exposes of racist violence were a source of inspiration. Those revulsed by the horrific hangings, beatings and other abuse wrought upon black Americans celebrated her work, and Wells was in many respects a forerunner of the successful civil rights movement of the 1950s onward.