1898 Wilmington Coup

What traditionally has been termed a “race riot” has also been called a massacre, rebellion, revolt, race war, and coup d’etat. The events of November 10, 1898, in Wilmington constitute a landmark in North Carolina history. Over a century later some details are still in question. The number of casualties, for example, range from the coroner’s fourteen to unconfirmed reports of scores or even hundreds of deaths. The 2006 official state report settled upon “as many as sixty.” All of the reported victims were black. The event marked the climax of the white supremacy campaign of 1898 and a turning point in the state’s history. Restriction on black voting followed soon thereon marking the onset of the Jim Crow era of segregation.

Alfred Moore Waddell, a former Confederate officer and U.S. Congressman, in the days preceding the election of 1898 called for the removal of the Republicans and Populists then in power in Wilmington and proposed in a speech at Thalian Hall that the white citizens, if necessary, “choke the Cape Fear with carcasses.” What had particularly incensed Waddell and others was the publication in August of an editorial in the Daily Record, a local black-owned newspaper. Alex Manly (1866-1944), the editor, charged that “poor white men are careless in the matter of protecting their women” and that “our experience among poor white people in the country teaches us that women of that race are not any more particular in the matter of clandestine meetings with colored men than the white men with colored women.” The sexually charged editorial, reprinted across the state, provided Democrats with an issue to inflame racial tensions as Election Day approached. Yet the day passed without notable incident.

At 8:00 A.M. two days later about 500 white men assembled at the armory of the Wilmington Light Infantry and, after several others declined, Waddell took on the task of leading them to the Daily Record office in Free Love Hall four blocks south of Seventh Street between Nun and Church Streets. The crowd swelled to perhaps 2,000 as they moved across town. Manly, in the meantime, had fled the city, as had numerous other blacks in expectation of violence. The mob invaded the building, a fire broke out, and the top floor of the building was consumed. The crowd posed for photographs in front of the burned-out frame. Within hours violence had spread to other parts of the city.

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History repeats itself and for those who do not know (or do not want to remember), they are doomed because of their ignorance. Sometimes history repeats and sometimes it is a reversed repeat as we see today. The above history concerning the Wilmington insurrection by white Democrats who forcefully removed a Republic government and killed an unknown number of blacks in 1898 should never be forgotten. Especially since there were no arrests or repercussions.

Fast forward to today and the party of Lincoln is vilified as Nazis and racists. For those who are willing to listen to the truth, please do some research and then do some heartfelt reflection of what your children’s future will be.

David DeGerolamo