Mary Church Terrell and Ida B. Wells: Where They Gentile Militants? or Plain Radicals of the Late 19th Century?

In an era characterized by Jim Crow Laws, the inability for women to vote, high religious affiliation (devotion), and a notion of repressed sexuality, the Victorian era (19th century) was an increasingly hostile environment for women (irrespective of race) and African-American men. Withstanding the disparities existing between Blacks and Whites during the late nineteenth century, social and political reforms that succeeded in pervading American society were imminent. In a bold attempt to deconstruct preexisting norms …

…whom could all relate to the devastation caused by the effects of lynching. She was a true militant, and in some cases, a radical for her zeal for essentially deconstructing notions of white purity and false claims of wanting to protect the honor of white women, when in reality most European-Americans simply wanted to further subjugate African-Americans. Both Well's and Terrell contributed immensely to the advancement of African-American women and the fight for racial equality.