Episode 4: White Women and the Lynching Myth

This episode is named after an especially violent time in US history immediately following Reconstruction in the US South.  Frequent racial-terror lynchings were justified by what journalist Ida B. Wells called the lynching myth. The myth was rooted in two racialized stereotypes: sexually violent black men and sexually pure white women. When Wells publicized her analysis, she found herself in conflict with white women such as Frances Willard, a prominent social purity activist. Their debate offers significant insight into how white Victorians utilized sexual purity to signal their own racial supremacy.

Subscribe to Pure White: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/pure-white/id1718974286

To purchase Virgin Nation: https://massivebookshop.com/products/9780199987764

To Subscribe to Chew On This, A Newsletter from the After Purity Project: https://afterpurity.substack.com

Southern Horrors and Other Writings by Ida B. Wells

https://bookshop.org/p/books/southern-horrors-ida-b-wells-barnett/92999?ean=9781502768001

Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy