The Wilmington Massacre Was A White Supremacist Insurrection in North Carolina
Although the word “insurrection” has come to be associated with the violent attack on the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, America was no stranger to deadly insurrections and attempted coup d’états long before that day. In fact, the last successful insurrection to take place on U.S. soil occurred nearly 124 years ago, in Wilmington, North Carolina. In 1898, Wilmington’s duly elected, biracial government was violently overthrown by a mob of white supremacists who sought to regain power in the wake of the post-Civil War Reconstruction era.
At the time, white southern Democrats deeply resented that Black Americans were now able to enjoy some of the same rights as they did, such as being able to hold public office. As the primary political party of the Confederacy, southern Democrats were threatened by the fusionist coalition that had formed in North Carolina between Republicans and Populists, a group comprised mostly of poor farmers and other working-class people. State party leaders wanted to squelch Black political power in Wilmington and throughout North Carolina.
Before the coup, Wilmington had been a prospering city, where Black residents thrived economically, especially compared with other places in the South. Not only was Wilmington the largest city in North Carolina, it was also considered a center of Black achievement. Black men owned the majority of barbershops and eateries in the city, and some were elected to public office. Despite their collective gains and successes, however, Black people faced widespread discrimination and harassment in Wilmington and were by no means considered equals by the white population.
The events that led to the Wilmington Massacre, which took place in a single day, didn’t happen overnight. The violent coup was the culmination of a monthslong white supremacy campaign. Vowing to rid the state of “Negro domination,” southern Democrats embraced racist propaganda to try to instill fear in the city’s white residents and create doubt about whether Black people should hold any political power at a time when Black voter registration and participation was particularly high.
https://www.teenvogue.com/story/wilmington-massacre-insurrection-history
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