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Wilmington's lie : the murderous coup of 1898 and the rise of white supremacy (edición 2020)

por David Zucchino

Miembros	Reseñas	Popularidad	Valoración promedia	Menciones
359	9	72,423	(4.23)	7
"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"--… (más)

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Miembro:	DugsBooks
Título:	Wilmington's lie : the murderous coup of 1898 and the rise of white supremacy
Autores:	David Zucchino
Información:	New York : Atlantic Monthly Press, 2020.
Colecciones:	Tu biblioteca
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Etiquetas:	autographed, North Carolina, nonfiction

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Wilmington's Lie: The Murderous Coup of 1898 and the Rise of White Supremacy por David Zucchino

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The facts in this book are compelling, but unfortunately, the first half is very dry. The second half is better-written. (

)

danielskatz | Dec 26, 2023 |

Wilmington's Lie tells the story of the coup led by white supremacists in North Carolina to overthrow the Fusionist government of Wilmington, made up of white Republicans and a number of black men. This is a tale that was largely lost to history until a few people at the centennial of the events started pushing for a way to commemorate it and the state legislature in 2000 created a commission to investigate it.

By 1898, Wilmington was a remarkably successful (for the time) community of mixed races. White supremacists in Wilmington and around the state were angry and determined to overthrow that government. This book sets the stage for events leading up to the coup. It provides background history from the Civil War to the end of the century, and introduces the leading characters who played a role on both sides. Zucchino describes the white supremacist campaign designed to frighten white Fusionist voters and scare them into voting for white supremacist Democrats. Democrats succeeded in regaining near complete control over the state legislature and full control of county offices in the election of 1898. But this was not enough for them. City government offices were not up for election until the following spring. So the day after the election, they set their plan in motion to force the Mayor, Chief of Police, and other city officials to resign. This led to the notorious massacre of many black men on November 10. Zucchino recounts the event of this day in detail. Of course, the white supremacists claimed there was a riot of black men, and they had to put it down. But Zucchino presents a great deal of evidence to show that the events of that day had been planned in advance by a number of the white supremacist leaders.

I was surprised to see how much of the country knew about the events. Apparently people were expecting a race war in Wilmington, and there were correspondents from around the country covering the election there. Also appalling was the complete lack of a response from the federal government. It was a truly horrific event and a stain on our country's history.

Wilmington's Lie gives about as complete a recounting of the events of that day, as well as what led up to it and what followed, as is probably possible to make. It is extremely well researched, with 41 pages of notes and an extensive bibliography. Zucchino has unearthed some unpublished memoirs which help to fill in the details. It is also very well written and compelling. Given events in this country at the present day, it is important that we not forget what happened here, as we do not want to see a repeat. I recommend this book for everyone, but North Carolinians in particular should read it. (

)

atozgrl | Aug 27, 2023 |

In 1898 a group of white supremacists hatched a plan to thwart an election, stage a “race riot” (in reality a white rebellion which ended up taking the lives of an estimated 60 African Americans), and instigate a coup to put themselves in charge of the municipal government of the city of Wilmington, North Carolina. At the time, the city was the largest black majority city in the former Confederacy.

Not only did their plan succeed, but it drove the final nail in the progress of Reconstruction and set the stage for the rise of Jim Crow.

In David Zucchino’s 2020 Pulitzer Prize winning book, he peels away the years of lies and half-truths to tell the story of the planning that led up to the harrowing days around the election of 1898 in Wilmington. It’s a story of how a dedicated press outlet was used to foment anger and resentment. It’s a story of how white supremacists worked to ensure one side of the coming conflict was fully armed, while the other was deprived of any opportunity to arm themselves. It’s a story of terror, intimidation, murder and insurrection.

It’s quite frustrating to read in the closing chapters of this book how Federal authorities turned a blind eye and took no actions after this open insurrection and murder. The lesson taken to heart by white supremacists throughout the South was that you could kill your fellow American, deprive him of his right to vote, and take away his seat at the table of government so long as he were black. And so it was for the next 60 years.

It’s a sad statement, and an understatement, to say that this book continues to hold lessons for us today. Over the last several years white supremacy has once again put down the dog whistle and taken off it's mask as it has tried to force its way to the center of our national life. One hundred and twenty odd years after Wilmington, the rhetoric and the tone of the arguments has not changed. The stated aim of the white supremacists of 1898 to take control by the “ballot or the bullet or both” sounds eerily similar to the calls of the Trumpist so-called patriots who stormed our nation’s capital in 2020.

RATING: Five Stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (

)

stevesbookstuff | Aug 31, 2022 |

I had no idea this had happened. Granted, I've never lived or even been to North Carolina but the false narrative white supremacy has enshrined in the last several centuries has made sure that their crimes are not seen as crimes and ignored or brushed under the rug as "it was the time".

Bull cookies.

Zucchino does an excellent and thorough job of documenting everything leading to the race massacre of November 10, 1898 and it consequences. What it even more devastating is that reading this in March/April 2022 is how many states are working on resurrecting these events. Maybe not the outright public slaughter of Blacks but the disenfranchisement, rewriting of history to never talk about racism and slavery, the avoidable deaths of BIPOC due to COVID (which should be considered a crime), police brutality, Etc. It may be a different year but the ideology, methods, and beliefs really haven't changed. (

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pacbox | Jul 9, 2022 |

A great study about how Wilmington, North Carolina becomes the blueprint for how southern whites totally disenfranchise Black voters and assume total political control and dominance over local and state government. Their methods include violence,, intimidation , grandfather clauses, literacy tests and poll taxes. These methods spread all across the South to guarantee white supremacy throughout the South. In 1898 North Carolina had a majority Black population. By 1900 there are no Black office holders in the state. Zucchino sees similar problems for Blacks today with voter restrictions. (

)

muddyboy | Nov 13, 2021 |

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In the sordid history of white supremacy and violence against blacks after the Civil War — attacks in Memphis and New Orleans in 1866, Atlanta in 1906, Springfield, Ill., in 1908, Chicago in 1919, and Tulsa in 1921, to name a few — Wilmington in 1898 stands apart.... “The coup,” Zucchino concludes, “transformed Wilmington from an American mecca for blacks to a bastion of white supremacy virulently hostile to its black citizens.” Deeply researched and relevant, “Wilmington’s Lie” explains how that happened and suggests how much work remains to be done to come to terms with what took place.

añadido por Lemeritus | editarThe Washington Post, Louis P. Masur (Sitio de pago) (Jan 23, 2020)

Wilmington has the dubious distinction of being the site of what is apparently the only coup d’etat in American history.... Zucchino keeps his focus tightly on North Carolina, which might be its main weakness. What happened in Wilmington in 1898 was part of a growing trend of white supremacy that swept most of the states of the former Confederacy for a decade or more.

añadido por Lemeritus | editarWilmington Star News, Ben Steelman (Jan 18, 2020)

“Wilmington’s Lie” is a tragic story about the brutal overthrow of the multiracial government of Wilmington, N.C., in 1898.... His moral judgment stands at a distance. He simply describes what happened and the lies told to justify it all. A generalized terror comes into view as the white citizens of Wilmington mobilized to seize power through violence and outright fraud....Zucchino pulls the story into our present moment. He interviews descendants of those who perpetrated the violence and those who bore the brunt of it. What becomes clear, at least to me, is that memory and trauma look different depending on which side of the tracks you stand. The last sentence of “Wilmington’s Lie,” which quotes the grandson of Alex Manly, makes that point without a hint of hyperbole. “If there’s a hell, I hope they’re burning in it, all of them.”

añadido por Lemeritus | editarNew York Times Book Review, Eddie S. Glaude Jr. (Sitio de pago) (Jan 7, 2020)

Zucchino carefully outlines the roles that black people held in Wilmington’s government and explores why white people were bothered by what they called “Negro rule” when black people held only a small portion of elected positions in the city.... The results of these events “inspired white supremacists across the South. . . . Wilmington’s whites had mounted America’s first and only armed overthrow of a legally elected government. They had murdered blacks with impunity. . . . They had turned a black-majority city into a white citadel.” Wilmington’s Lie is a riveting and mesmerizing page turner, with lessons about racial violence that echo loudly today.

añadido por Lemeritus | editarBookPage, Henry L. Carrigan Jr. (Jan 1, 2020)

A searing and still-relevant tale of racial injustice at the turn of the 20th century.... The complexities of racial division and party politics in a time before the Republicans and Democrats effectively switched sides are sometimes challenging to follow, but Zucchino’s narrative is clear and appropriately outraged without being strident. A book that does history a service by uncovering a shameful episode, one that resonates strongly today.

añadido por Lemeritus | editarKirkus Reviews (Sep 24, 2019)

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The white man's happiness cannot be purchased by the black man's misery -Frederick Douglass

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Prologue: The killers came by streetcar.

Chapter One: The closing weeks of the Civil War brought chaos and upheaval to Wilmington.

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In Wilmington, whites embraced North Carolina’s Black Code and worked to stave off any move to grant suffrage or other civil rights to former slaves. The city’s civic leaders formed “white men’s clubs” to agitate against blacks. White-run newspapers derided Republicans for courting potential black votes and for treating blacks as citizens. SHALL NEGROES OR WHITE MEN RULE NORTH CAROLINA? the Wilmington Daily Journal asked. Even after North Carolina’s Black Code was nullified by a new state constitution in 1868, Wilmington’s whites behaved as if the code were still in effect, intimidating or beating any black man who resisted.

That prompted an acrimonious discussion of the proper address for a colored gentleman and whether, in fact, the term “nigger” was intended as an insult. A black delegate said the term meant “a low, dirty fellow.” The white reporter who had published the slur said he indeed intended it as an insult. He also said he wouldn’t object to being expelled from the convention. He was.

White politicians claimed there had been massive voter fraud. They demanded that the election results be invalidated. They vowed to renew their fight against a “mongrel race” and black suffrage. They recommitted themselves to white solidarity and to vengeance against blacks and against the blacks’ white allies.

Once in power, Democrats maneuvered to undermine the newly won black vote by eliminating the popular election of county commissioners. Instead, commissioners were to be chosen by justices of the peace, who were in turn selected by the state legislature. The change guaranteed that for as long as Democrats controlled the legislature, even Black Belt counties were powerless to elect black county officials. Democrats also controlled local election officials, who relied on procedural ruses to disqualify black voters. In 1876, Democrats congratulated themselves on redeeming the state in the name of white supremacy. Well before the close of Reconstruction in 1877, the vengeance of the Redeemers had essentially suspended the Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth Amendments in North Carolina. White supremacy was triumphant. For the next seventeen years, the Redeemers ruled North Carolina.

Many poor whites were as virulently racist as any Democrat, but Populists aligned themselves with Republicans against moneyed interests, even at the risk of aligning themselves with blacks, at least politically. They teamed with Republicans, white and black, in an uneasy political and racial alliance known as Fusion. Many black voters did not fully trust their new partners. They had given the Fusionists their votes, but not their hearts. It was a bold and virtually unprecedented experiment. Nowhere else in the South during post-Reconstruction did whites and blacks so successfully unite in a multiracial political partnership. Fusionists managed to win the statewide election in 1894 and seize control of the North Carolina legislature.

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More than a century before sophisticated fake news attacks targeted social media websites, Daniels’s manipulation of white readers through phony or misleading newspaper stories was perhaps the most daring and effective disinformation campaign of the era. It reached a climax that fall in Wilmington—a special target for Daniels because of its majority black population. “A reign of terror was on” in the city, he warned.

Daniels understood implicitly the sexual insecurities of white Southern males. Already emasculated by Union troops who had occupied their towns, they risked further shame if black men were elevated to something approaching equality. A black man who could vote or hold public office was a man who might, by their logic, become a rival for the affections of white women.

In 1900, Tillman boasted on the Senate floor of his role in committing election fraud and assaulting black men who attempted to vote in 1876: “We stuffed ballot boxes. We shot them. We are not ashamed of it.”

Until North Carolina’s revised constitution in 1868, Jews had been banned from public office by the state’s original constitution of 1776.

"We cannot outnumber the negroes,” he said. “And so we must either outcheat, outcount or outshoot them!”

Some blacks called poor Irishmen buckra, or bocra, which roughly meant “white nigger.” Men of both races competed for unskilled jobs, and the Irish often complained that the city’s white merchants favored black workers over whites because blacks accepted lower pay and made fewer demands.

Northern newspapermen seemed torn between their scorn for Southerners and their widely held contempt for black capabilities. Most deplored the violence in Wilmington but not the outcome. Many Northern editors wrote that they did not consider blacks, in the North or the South, capable of holding public office. They welcomed the return of what they regarded as the natural order in America—whites ruling blacks. They seemed aggrieved only by the way Wilmington’s whites went about it.

Men who had voted before 1867—the year Reconstruction laws instituted universal suffrage—or whose fathers or grandfathers had voted before 1867 were exempted from the state’s poll tax and literacy test. White Louisiana legislators argued that their grandfather clause did not explicitly discriminate against blacks, because it applied to both races. But it punished only black men, of course, because the black vote did not exist before 1867.

It seemed that North Carolina’s blacks had voted to disenfranchise themselves. In fact, they had barely voted. Many who tried were beaten, threatened, or intimidated, just as they had been in 1898. Others were turned away by Democratic registrars on various pretexts.

In the Black Belt town of Scotland Neck, registered Republicans outnumbered Democrats nearly two to one, but ballot stuffing produced a stunning eleven-to-one margin for the amendment, with 831 “yes” ballots reported in a city where only 539 residents had registered to vote.

In a city where the number of males of voting age was evenly divided between whites and blacks, at about 3,100 each, there were a remarkable 2,967 “yes” votes. Officials reported that just two people had voted against it. The Messenger claimed that only five black men voted, all five to disenfranchise themselves.

Inspired by the sweeping success of North Carolina’s grandfather clause, other Southern states adopted variations of the law—Alabama in 1901, Virginia in 1902, Georgia in 1908, and Oklahoma in 1910.

the civil rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s had driven Southern white conservatives from the Democratic Party into the segregationist states-rights wing of the Republican Party. In 1972, North Carolina elected its first Republican US senator in seventy-four years—Jesse Helms, an ardent segregationist who once mailed postcards to black residents warning that they could be prosecuted for fraud if they tried to vote.

The legislators proposed a voter ID law that included a set of restrictions aimed at black voters. But they were thwarted by the Voting Rights Act, which targeted states like North Carolina with a history of racial discrimination in voting. The law required forty of North Carolina’s one hundred counties to seek federal preclearance for any changes to voting procedures. But in 2013, the United States Supreme Court, in Shelby County v. Holder, gutted the law and eliminated the preclearance requirement. Within hours of the Shelby decision, a Republican leader of the voter ID effort told reporters: “Now we can go with the full bill” for voter ID—because the “legal headache” of preclearance had been removed. The state’s conservatives were now free to invoke the spirit of 1898 via a twenty-first-century voter suppression law nearly as effective as the suffrage amendment and grandfather clause 115 years earlier. The so-called voter ID bill was passed into law in late 2013. It reduced early voting and Sunday “souls to the polls” voting, both used disproportionately by African Americans. It eliminated same-day registration and straight-ticket voting, two other provisions especially popular among African Americans. The new law also required a state-issued ID to vote. That requirement imposed a special burden on African Americans voters, many of whom lacked a driver’s license, birth certificate, or other official documents required to obtain a state-issued ID

Twenty-first-century white conservatives reprised another tactic of Wilmington’s white supremacists: they said the voter ID law was designed to eliminate widespread voter fraud, the same accusation leveled against the state’s black voters in the 1890s. But the 2016 federal court panel, noting that voter fraud was extremely rare, said voter ID restrictions “impose cures for problems that did not exist.”

In 2012, Democratic congressional candidates won 51 percent of the vote in North Carolina. Yet Republicans won nine of thirteen congressional districts, erasing the previous 7-to-6 Democratic advantage.

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"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"--

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