Woke
Out of context: Reply #69
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The Wilmington Insurrection, also known as the Wilmington Massacre or the Wilmington Coup, occurred on November 10, 1898, in Wilmington, North Carolina. It's considered one of the only successful coup d'états in U.S. history.
In the late 19th century, Wilmington was the largest city in North Carolina, and it had a majority African American population. Black and white citizens held positions of power within the local government, creating a racially integrated political landscape, which was unusual in the post-Civil War South.
The political climate leading up to the insurrection was charged. There was increasing resentment from white supremacist groups towards the city's biracial government and efforts were made to stoke racial tension. The white supremacists sought to end what they termed "Negro rule" and initiated a campaign to do so, using the press to spread white supremacist propaganda.
On November 10, a mob of about 2,000 white men, led by prominent local citizens, embarked on a mission to overthrow the elected local government, expelling opposition black and white political leaders from the city. The mob burned the offices of the black-owned local newspaper, killed an estimated 60 to more than 300 people, and ran many others out of town.
Following the coup, many of the leaders of the insurrection were elected to office. The event marked the beginning of an era of severe racial segregation and disenfranchisement across the South.
For many years, the insurrection was not widely recognized as a coup but was misrepresented as a race riot initiated by the Black community. It's only in recent decades that a more accurate understanding of the event has emerged, highlighting the insurrection as a violent overthrow of a legitimately elected local government.
Today, the 1898 insurrection is recognized as a significant event in U.S. history, an instance of violent overthrow of an elected government in the name of white supremacy. It underscores the severe racial and political tensions of the era and the lengths to which some were willing to go to maintain white dominance in the South.
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