A Red Record, By Ida B. Wells Barnett - 847 Words

Women’s issues during slavery and even into the Reconstruction Era were not held as top priorities within the social structure of life during those times. The main political and social issues were within the male spectrum, and therefore left women’s rights and values in second place, behind men. Within the nineteenth century, there were four specific characteristics that society deemed should be associated with a woman; piety, purity, domesticity, and submissiveness. However, this was not the case when it came to black women. They were not able to exemplify the expected worldview of womanhood due to their circumstances. In A Red Record, written by Ida B. Wells-Barnett, the issue of chivalry and virtue is presented to the reader. In this specific case, the author is speaking of virtue in the sense of purity. â€Å" Virtue knows no color line, and the chivalry which depends upon complexion of skin and texture of hair can command no honest respect.† (674) Virtue or the idea that women in that time should be women of virtue, or purity, had no boundary between white and black women. It was something that was required and expected of a woman no matter what her station, color, or occupation. The issue with that standard is the fact that white men at that time only had a sense of chivalry when it came to white women. The evidence was â€Å" . . . written in the faces of the million mulattoes in the South . . .†. (674) The idea that a woman was a display of purity was not a concept that wasShow MoreRelated Lynching and Women: Ida B. Wells Essay937 Words   |  4 PagesWomen: Ida B. 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