The Murderous Coup of 1898 & The Rise of White Supremacy

The Murderous Coup of 1898 & The Rise of White Supremacy

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In the 1890s, Wilmington, N.C. was a mixed-race community with a thriving black middle class, black aldermen and police officers, and a black newspaper. White supremacists saw this as an abomination, and plotted a bloody purge around the 1898 election. They rampaged through the streets, killing 60 black men, and banished prominent black people and their white allies from the city. Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist David Zucchino tells the story in his new book, ‘Wilmington’s Lie.’

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