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

"The Red Record" by Ida B. Wells-Barnett is a late 19th-century exposé of lynching in the United States, specifically targeting its devastating effects on African Americans in the South. The book features a collection of data on lynching events and inspects the reasoning behind these acts, offering insights into the societal impacts and deeply rooted racial prejudices of the time. Letters from important people, like Frederick Douglass, point out the need for her work to reveal the horrible wrongs experienced by Black people, given the high numbers of killings without court rulings. The beginning chapters explore different excuses used by white southerners to defend these violent acts, opening up a study of racial violence, social agreement, and the deep-seated oppression that permitted and supported this lawlessness.