Challenging “Alleged Causes”

Abstract

Ida B. Wells’s third text on terrorist tactics, Mob Rule in New Orleans, is a succinct analysis of legal complicity, silent conspiracy, and the economics of lynching. I draw upon the following timeline¹ as a basis from which to suggest that it is highly probable that concerns about a police-precipitated incident that fueled extreme mob brutality, without intervention from elected officials, would not have been raised had New Orleans’s bond rating not been adversely impacted:

• Monday, July 24,1900—at approximately 10:30 p.m. police instigated an unwarranted assault against two colored men sitting outside a residence on Dryades St.

• Tuesday, July 25, 1900—manhunt located Charles, between 2:30 and 5:00 a.m., at 2023 4th Street; an unidentified innocent man subjected to mob rule; two officers killed.

• Wednesday, July 26, 1900—manhunt continued as rampant lawlessness escalates.

• Thursday, July 27, 1900—mob rule continued.

• Friday, July 28, 1900—concern surfaces regarding financial impact of mob rule as rioting continued; house in which Charles hid set on fire by besiegers, forcing Charles to confront the mob who riddled his body with bullets.