Wilmington's lie : the murderous coup of 1898 and the rise of white supremacy / David Zucchino.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Zucchino, David, author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Wilmington Massacre, Wilmington, N.C., 1898.

White supremacy movements--North Carolina--Wilmington--History--19th century.

White supremacy movements.

African Americans--Civil rights--North Carolina--Wilmington--History--19th century.

African Americans.

African Americans--Civil rights.

History.

Wilmington (N.C.)--Race relations--History--19th century.

Wilmington (N.C.).

Wilmington (N.C.)--Politics and government--19th century.

Politics and government.

Race relations.

North Carolina--Wilmington.

Genre:

History.

Physical Description:

xxii, 426 pages, 12 unnumbered leaves of plates : illustrations, map ; 23 cm

Edition:

First Grove Atlantic hardcover edition.

Place of Publication:

New York : Atlantic Monthly Press, [2020]

Summary:

"By 1898 Wilmington, North Carolina, was a shining example of a mixed-race community-a bustling port city with a thriving African American middle class and a government made up of Republicans and Populists, including black alderman, police officers, and magistrates. But across the state-and the South-white supremacist Democrats were working to reverse the advances made by former slaves and their progeny. They were plotting to take back the state legislature in the November 8th election and then use a controversial editorial published by black newspaper editor Alexander Manly to trigger a "race riot" to overthrow the elected government in Wilmington. With a coordinated campaign of intimidation and violence, the Democrats sharply curtailed the black vote and stuffed ballot boxes to steal the 1898 mid-term election. Two days later, more than 2,000 heavily armed white nightriders known as Red Shirts swarmed through Wilmington, terrorizing women and children and shooting at least sixty black men dead in the streets. The rebels forced city officials and leading black citizens to flee at gun point while hundreds of local African Americans took refuge in nearby swamps and forests. This brutal insurrection is the only violent overthrow of an elected government in U.S. history. It halted gains made by blacks and restored racism as official government policy, cementing white rule for another seventy years. It was not a "race riot" as the events of November 1898 came to be known, but rather a racially-motivated rebellion launched by white supremacists. In Wilmington's Lie, David Zucchino uses contemporary newspaper reports, diaries, letters, and official communications to create a gripping narrative that weaves together individual stories of hate, fear, and brutality. This is a dramatic and definitive account of a remarkable but forgotten chapter of American history"-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

Book one: days of hope

Cake and wine

Good will of the white people

Lying out

Marching to the happy land

Ye men of unmixed blood

The avenger cometh

Destiny of the negro

A yaller dog

Book two: reckoning

The negro problem

The incubus

I say lynch

A vile slander

An excellent race

A dark scheme

The nation's mission

Degenerate sons of the white race

The great white man's rally and basket picnic

White-capping

Buckshot at close range

A drunkard and a gambler

Choke the Cape Fear with carcasses

The shepherds will have nowhere to flee

A pitiful condition

Retribution in history

The forbearance of all white men

Book three: line of fire

What have we done?

Situation serious

Strictly according to law

Marching from death

Not the sort of man we want here

Justice is satisfied, vengeance is cruel

Persons unknown

Better get a gun

The meanest animals

Old scores

The grandfather clause

Leave it to the whites

I cannot live in North Carolina and be treated like a man

Epilogue

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9780802128386

0802128386

OCLC:

1105714661