In March of 1892, three Black grocery store owners in Memphis, Tennessee, were murdered by a mob of white men. Lynchings like these were happening all over the American South, often without any subsequent legal investigation or consequences for the murderers. But this time, a young journalist and friend of the victims set out to expose the truth about these killings. Her reports would shock the nation and launch her career as an investigative journalist, civic leader, and civil rights advocate. Her name was Ida B. Wells.
Pada bulan Maret di tahun 1892, tiga orang kulit hitam pemilik toko di Memphis, Tennessee, dibunuh oleh gerombolan orang-orang kulit putih. Hukuman tanpa pengadilan serupa terjadi di seluruh Amerika Selatan seringkali tanpa penyelidikan resmi lebih lanjut atau adanya konsekuensi bagi para pembunuhnya. Tetapi kali ini, seorang jurnalis muda yang merupakan teman korban berusaha untuk menguak kebenaran dari pembunuhan tersebut. Laporannya akan mengejutkan masyarakat dan memulai kariernya sebagai jurnalis investigasi, pemimpin masyarakat, dan pengacara hak-hak sipil. Dia adalah Ida B. Wells.
Ida Bell Wells was born into slavery in Holly Springs, Mississippi on July 16, 1862, several months before the Emancipation Proclamation released her and her family. After losing both parents and a brother to yellow fever at the age of 16, she supported her five remaining siblings by working as a schoolteacher in Memphis, Tennessee.
Ida Bell Wells lahir dalam perbudakan di Holy Springs, Mississippi pada 16 Juli 1862, beberapa bulan sebelum Proklamasi Emansipasi yang memerdekakan dia dan keluarganya. Setelah kehilangan orang tuanya dan satu adik akibat demam kuning di usia 16 tahun, dia menopang hidup 5 saudaranya yang tersisa dengan bekerja sebagai guru sekolah di Memphis, Tennessee.
During this time, she began working as a journalist. Writing under the pen name “Iola,” by the early 1890s she gained a reputation as a clear voice against racial injustice and become co-owner and editor of the Memphis Free Speech and Headlight newspaper. She had no shortage of material: in the decades following the Civil War, Southern whites attempted to reassert their power by committing crimes against Black people including suppressing their votes, vandalizing their businesses, and even murdering them.
Dalam periode itu, dia mulai bekerja sebagai jurnalis. Dengan nama pena "Iola," di awal 1890an dia mendapat reputasi sebagai penyuara aktif melawan ketidakadilan rasisme dan menjadi salah satu pemilik dan editor Koran Memphis Free Speech and Headlight. Dia tak kekurangan akan materi: Di masa setelah Perang Saudara, orang kulit putih di Selatan berusaha berkuasa berbuat kriminal terhadap orang kulit hitam termasuk mengekang suara mereka, beraksi vandalisme pada bisnis mereka, dan bahkan membunuh mereka.
After the murder of her friends, Wells launched an investigation into lynching. She analyzed specific cases through newspaper reports and police records, and interviewed people who had lost friends and family to lynch mobs. She risked her life to get this information. As a Black person investigating racially motivated murders, she enraged many of the same southern white men involved in lynchings.
Setelah kematian teman-temannya, Wells melancarkan investigasi terhadap aksi pembunuhan tersebut. Dia menganalisa kasus spesifik melalui berita di koran dan arsip kepolisian, dan mewawancarai teman dan keluarga korban akibat aksi tersebut. Hidupnya menjadi taruhan untuk menggali informasi itu. Sebagai orang kulit hitam yang berkutat dengan pembunuhan rasial dia memicu emosi para pelaku yang terlibat di aksi tersebut.
Her bravery paid off. Most whites had claimed and subsequently reported that lynchings were responses to criminal acts by Black people. But that was not usually the case. Through her research, Wells showed that these murders were actually a deliberate, brutal tactic to control or punish black people who competed with whites. Her friends, for example, had been lynched when their grocery store became popular enough to divert business from a white competitor.
Keberaniannya terbayar. Mayoritas orang kulit putih mengklaim dan melapor bahwa aksi itu sebagai balasan untuk orang kulit hitam. Tetapi itu bukan kasus biasa. Melalui pengamatannya, Wells menunjukkan aksi-aksi pembunuhan tersebut disengaja, taktik kejam untuk mengatasi orang kulit hitam yang berkompetisi dengan kulit putih Contoh, teman-temannya dibunuh ketika toko mereka menjadi cukup terkenal untuk menyaingi bisnis orang kulit putih.
Wells published her findings in 1892. In response, a white mob destroyed her newspaper presses. She was out of town when they struck, but they threatened to kill her if she ever returned to Memphis. So she traveled to New York, where that same year she re-published her research in a pamphlet titled Southern Horrors: Lynch Law in All Its Phases. In 1895, after settling in Chicago, she built on Southern Horrors in a longer piece called The Red Record. Her careful documentation of the horrors of lynching and impassioned public speeches drew international attention.
Wells mempublikasi penemuannya di 1892. Orang-orang kulit putih bereaksi dengan menghancurkan penerbit korannya. Dia berada di luar kota saat itu, tetapi mereka mengancam akan membunuhnya jika dia kembali ke Memphis. Oleh karenanya, dia pergi ke New York di tahun yang sama dia menerbitkan ulang penelitiannya di sebuah pamflet berjudul Southern Horrors: Lynch Law in All Its Phases. Di tahun 1895, setelah menetap di Chicago, dia mengembangkan Southern Horrors menjadi versi lebih panjang, The Red Record. Dokumentasinya yang hati-hati tentang aksi seram itu dan pidato publik yang penuh semangat menarik perhatian internasional.
Wells used her newfound fame to amplify her message. She traveled to Europe, where she rallied European outrage against racial violence in the American South in hopes that the US government and public would follow their example. Back in the US, she didn’t hesitate to confront powerful organizations, fighting the segregationist policies of the YMCA and leading a delegation to the White House to protest discriminatory workplace practices.
Wells menggunakan ketenarannya untuk menyiarkan pesannya. Dia pergi ke Eropa, di mana ia bergabung dengan orang Eropa melawan aksi radikal di Amerika Selatan dengan harapan pemerintah AS dan publik akan melakukan hal yang sama. Sekembalinya di Amerika ia tak ragu untuk mengkonfrontasi organisasi berpengaruh, melawan aturan segregasi YMCA dan memimpin delegasi ke Gedung Putih untuk memprotes praktek diskriminasi di tempat-tempat kerja.
She did all this while disenfranchised herself. Women didn’t win the right to vote until Wells was in her late 50s. And even then, the vote was primarily extended to white women only. Wells was a key player in the battle for voting inclusion, starting a Black women’s suffrage organization in Chicago. But in spite of her deep commitment to women’s rights, she clashed with white leaders of the movement. During a march for women’s suffrage in Washington D.C., she ignored the organizers’ attempt to placate Southern bigotry by placing Black women in the back, and marched up front alongside the white women.
Dia melakukan semua dengan risiko kehilangan hak pilihnya. Kaum wanita tak memenangkan hak pilih hingga Wells berusia akhir 50an. Dan bahkan setelahnya, hak pilih hanya berlaku untuk wanita kulit putih. Wells adalah kunci utama di pertarungan untuk hak pilih dan mengawali organisasi hak pilih wanita kulit hitam di Chicago. Dibalik komitmen tingginya terhadap hak-hak perempuan, dia berselisih dengan para pemimpin kulit putih. Saat aksi untuk hak sipil wanita di Washington D.C., dia mengabaikan usaha pengelola acara untuk menenangkan kericuhan dengan menyisihkan wanita kulit hitam, dan menempatkan wanita kulit putih di posisi depan.
She also chafed with other civil rights leaders, who saw her as a dangerous radical. She insisted on airing, in full detail, the atrocities taking place in the South, while others thought doing so would be counterproductive to negotiations with white politicians. Although she participated in the founding of the NAACP, she was soon sidelined from the organization.
Ia juga bentrok dengan pemimpin hak sipil lainnya yang menilai ia sebagai radikal berbahaya. Ia bersikukuh menyiarkan tanpa celah, aksi kekejaman yang terjadi di Selatan, kontra dengan pendapat bahwa hal itu akan kontraproduktif untuk bernegoisasi dengan politisi kulit putih. Meski ia berpartisipasi untuk berdirinya NAACP, tak lama kemudian ia tergeser dari organisasi tersebut.
Wells’ unwillingness to compromise any aspect of her vision of justice shined a light on the weak points of the various rights movements, and ultimately made them stronger— but also made it difficult for her to find a place within them. She was ahead of her time, waging a tireless struggle for equality and justice decades before many had even begun to imagine it possible.
Keengganan Wells untuk berkompromi dengan aspek apapun pada pandangannya menyinari titik lemah yang terjadi pada berbagai aksi hak lainnya, dan berujung menguatkan mereka- tetapi juga susah baginya untuk memposisikan diri di antara mereka. Dia memimpin di masanya, melakukan perjuangan melelahkan demi persamaan dan keadilan jauh sebelum yang lain membayangkan kemungkinan tersebut.