The Wilmington coup of 1898 is not as well known as the Tulsa massacre of 1921. But the events of that day changed the history of the city, the state and perhaps the country, and not for the better. Exactly 125 years ago today, an organized white supremacist militia attacked the North Carolina city’s Black leaders and residents and forcefully removed their elected officials before gunning down citizens in the streets. It was the end of the city’s brief period of multiracial democracy and multiracial prosperity.
Cedric Harrison, a Wilmington native, has been recovering the lost history of the episode in children’s books, videos and a compelling bus tour of the sites of the violent takeover. David Bank went to Wilmington, took the tour and sat down with Cedric for a conversation about the insurrection and the history of race and economic power in North Carolina. Host Brian Walsh has the headlines.
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