Ida B. Wells highlighted that lynching in the South was not merely a response to crime but a systematic tool of racial terror aimed at maintaining white supremacy and control over African Americans. She argued that these acts were often justified by false claims of protecting white womanhood, masking the underlying motives of racial hatred and economic oppression. Through her investigative journalism, Wells sought to expose the brutal reality of lynching and mobilize public opinion against it, advocating for justice and civil rights for African Americans.