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

In 1956, Southern author William Faulkner penned the now-famous “Letter to a Northern Editor,” which was published in LIFE Magazine. The letter urges Northern citizens to be patient with Southerners as they grow accustomed to desegregation and a new understanding of civil rights: “Stop now for a moment. You have shown the Southerner what you can do and what you will do if nec­essary; give him a space in which to get his breath and assimilate that knowledge” (Faulkner, William. “Letter to Northern Editor.” LIFE Magazine, 5 Mar. 1956). The civil rights movement demanded follow-through on the promises outlined by the Emancipation Proclamation almost 100 years earlier, yet Faulkner felt that Southerners were not ready to relinquish their dream of Antebellum life.

Faulkner’s plea for patience echoes concerns immediately following the Emancipation Proclamation during the Reconstruction era, which lasted from 1861 to 1877, although some historians argue the period lasted much longer. Through violence and turmoil, the Civil War ushered in a new period in American history and an end to slavery. The country was now responsible for finding a way to absorb millions of formerly enslaved individuals into the structural systems that previously excluded them. Congress passed constitutional amendments abolishing slavery and granting rights and citizenship to Black Americans. However, as Faulkner exhibited a century later, the United States government and white citizens failed to live up to these promises. Even after the violence and brutality of slavery and racism were revealed, many white American citizens were slow to change their attitudes or relinquish their power.

Reconstruction is marked in history books as both a time of turmoil and important social change. The federal government was first tasked with enforcing the abolishment of slavery and managing the waves of emancipated people seeking refuge in the North. After President Abraham Lincoln was assassinated, President Andrew Johnson pardoned many Confederate leaders and allowed Southern states to pass Black Codes, restrictive laws designed to maintain white power in the South and discriminate against newly freed Black citizens. Violent groups formed to undermine Reconstruction, such as the Ku Klux Klan and the White League. These militant groups conspired to limit access to constitutional rights and committed acts of terrorism. Black citizens escaped slavery, only to be placed in political and social limbo while fearing for their lives.

The Colfax Massacre, which occurred in Louisiana in 1873, exemplifies the prevalence of anti-Black violence in the American South during Reconstruction. A 300-strong mob of armed white supremacists attacked a group of 60 pro-Reconstruction activists at the Grant Parish courthouse in Colfax. After a short exchange of fire, white supremacists captured and killed activists before pillaging the town and killing Black residents. Louisiana deployed the state militia, but by the time troops arrived, 147 Black citizens and 3 white citizens were dead.

Wells directly calls out the South’s omnipresent violence in the first chapter of The Red Record: “Emancipation came and the vested interests of the white man in the Negro’s body were lost” (17). Wells explains that during slavery, white enslavers had a reason to keep enslaved individuals alive: Their bodies held monetary value. During Reconstruction, however, this interest was lost. Wells explains that the violence enacted against Black people is a direct result of the white attitude that a Black person’s worth is tied to their usefulness and value to a white person.

The Tilden-Hayes compromise in 1877 is identified as the beginning of the lynching era. In this compromise, the federal government withdrew Northern troops from Southern states, where they were enforcing the entry of formerly enslaved Black individuals into citizenship. This move sent a message to Southern states that they could now act as they wished, regardless of the Constitution.

The brutality that Black citizens faced in the United States was pervasive, yet little record was kept of the victims of racist violence. The Freedmen’s Bureau records, although imprecise, paint a disturbing picture of violence against Black citizens in the South. From 1865 to 1876, more than 2,000 Black citizens were killed due to racist violence. This number does not reflect what are likely thousands of other cases that were never documented. Southern newspapers often suppressed stories about white violence toward Black citizens, believing that such stories would damage an idealized Southern narrative, and fears of retaliation kept family and friends from reporting crimes. Frequently, local law enforcement was complicit in the crimes, handing over individuals to terrorist groups and mobs. Wells’s record is unique for its thorough examination of lynchings in the United States and for demanding an analysis of the prevalence and function of racist violence.