Ida Wells-Barnett and Sociology Ida

Ida Wells-Barnett and sociology

Ida Wells-Barnett

This research essay explores the work of Ida Wells-Barnett and her contribution to sociology via her fight for women's rights. An assessment of several pieces of literature is undertaken to unearth the scope and magnitude of her overall contribution. Ida Wells-Barnett developed a feminist agenda before there was an agenda. Her agenda included the right for women to vote, the overall recognition of the contribution of women, an articulation of the differences between women and a fight against lynching. The fight against lynching is a demonstration of her wide angled lens, as she understood that male issues should also concern females. She provided a clear and powerful assessment of the intersection of power and gender. Modern feminist theory consequently may consider the need to assert the intersection of gender and power with a view to greater unity rather than separation.

Barnett, women's rights, lynching, gender

The impact of Ida Wells-Barnett's fight for women's rights on sociology

Significance of the Study

The study of Ida Wells-Barnett and her contribution to the field of sociology will contribute to knowledge from a theoretical perspective. This study will provide vista through which it is possible to understand the lasting contributions of this theorist to the discipline of sociology. Wells-Barnett advanced feminist concepts before they were dominant, widespread, or properly articulated. Thus, a study of her allows the reader to understand the initial stages of theory formation. She was a feminist before the word existed. Her conceptualizing of the world and in particular southern patriarchy is useful as a comparative tool for modern concepts. This research presents some of her initial feminist formulation in their infancy.

Additionally, we are able to understand some of the early challenges of black females in a white male dominated world. These early challenges are important for concept formulation and the development of categories. We are able to understand the development of oppression and repression. The inter-gender differences that assist in keeping women from supporting other women can be observed and described. The relentless nature of her struggle and fight for recognition provides a basis for comparing present conflicts with past conflicts allowing us to observe development and change.

Literature Review

Schaefer (2009) identifies Wells-Barnett as the progenitor of the modern feminist movement (p.15).She confronted the extant oppressive practices and wrote against lynching and in favor of women's rights. Her work attests to the development of a feminist theory before it was clearly articulated in other writings, which were done after her. In her writings there was a deliberate focus was on the meaning of being a black woman in the United States.

She served as a founding member of the NAACP and joined the fight for racial equality in post-civil war America. The difference in her fight was observed in the following manner firstly she was the only black woman of significance to sign the call (Record, 1956, p.380). The call represented a fight for genuine recognition of the contribution of women. This recognition included protection under the law and an extension of social services benefits to include women. While white women dominated this activism, Wells-Barnett was a prominent figure within the fledgling movement.

In referencing the experiences of black women, Guy-Sheftall (1992) suggests that Wells-Barnett was one of the few individuals who were interested in women's issues when the major focus was on race and the attendant civil rights issues (p.36). She was therefore able to bring to the fore a difficult issue which had received little attention and was considered of little significance. Her strategy to accomplish this was to tag it to civil rights issues. Thus, her presence in the NAACP is a testimony to the similarities of the objectives of the civil rights movement and the fledging feminist movement. She embodies the nature of the struggle as a black woman; she vividly demonstrates both dimension of the problem of race and gender.

While seeking to generate the requisite attention to the issue of gender, she did not ignore her familial duties. She often carried her son along with her to women's conventions and political campaigns (Guy-Sheftall, 1992 p. 38). This particular action called attention not only to the plight of women but amplified the distinction between black women and white women. This distinction is a theme of modern feminism where consideration must be given to the diversity of the experiences of women and attempts should be made to avoid the easy act of considering women as a homogenous group.

She was not a silent advocate and employed the pen and civic action to have her voice heard. Many of her positions were unpopular even among black women at the time resulting in her drawing criticism from blacks as well as whites. Taylor (1998) notes that Wells-Barnett advocated a position that black women deserved to vote more than white women (p. 237). Wells-Barnett saw the vote as critical to the successful advancement of black Americans as a whole. She also fiercely disputed several myths regarding white women. She posited that not all white women were chaste and virtuous. It was possible that white women could become romantically interested in black men. She asserted that in some of the cases of relationships between black men and white women, the women initiated the relationships.

Conversely, she extolled the virtue of black women and documented the high rates of abuse black women suffered. The attack on myths included an analysis of lynching victims (Taylor, 1988, p.238). This analysis of 728 lynching victims demonstrated that the southern patriarchal system was engaged in active acts of political terrorism through the manipulation of race and gender (Townes, 1985 p. 285). The analysis showed that only one third of the lynchings were for rape and many of these dubious at best. This position would doubtless offend many persons and turn the vituperative rhetoric toward Wells-Barnett yet she was unmoved. Perloff (2000) suggests that Wells-Barnett employed her newspaper in the fight against lynching. The conflict was so fierce that white businesspersons threatened to lynch the owners of the newspaper. Her steadfastness under this unceasing stream animosity brought attention to the issue.

It would however be unfair to reduce her actions to anti-lynching campaigns and some work for women's rights. Instead, her activities must be understood from the standpoint of an individual who grasped fundamental concepts of sociology. Her resistance toward lynching was not simply from a moral or ethical position but was sociological. Wells-Barnett understood lynching as a tool employed by whites to prolong the oppressive regime of slavery. It was design to repress the newly free blacks who could now legally compete with whites for the available resources.

Carby (1985) notes that Wells-Barnett argued that the association between lynching and rape was a contemporary phenomenon (p. 264). There was no historical support in the material reality for the union. It is more aptly conceptualized as a myth of the white majority to continue subjugation and oppression. Additionally she was able to fuse the issues of lynching and women's rights together in a new dynamic. That reflected the oppression of both genders by the white majority. Therefore, lynching became for her a "woman's issue" because it indirectly affected the social structure and the perception of women.

Thus, oppression could only be overcome by the sustained effort by both genders. The new possibilities for blacks to utilize the social structure for upward mobility and voting would provide them with significant political influence. This new political power was potentially decisive in the electoral process of the country. A new element could determine the distribution of economic and political power. Wells-Barnett was well aware of this social possibility (Townes 1982, p.286). The white community was also aware of this possibility and sought to mute it. The themes of resistance and oppression were developed by Wells-Barnett as a gendered issue; in the sense that black women needed to come to the aid of their black men. This demonstrated the unique possibilities that were available through the empowerment of women.