David Zucchino

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 Zucchino has unearthed some unpublished memoirs which help to fill in the details.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.… (lisätietoja)

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 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐… (lisätietoja)

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.… (lisätietoja)