2ND of a two part series: Democracy’s Denial: Revolutions in Wilmington
In 1898, Wilmington NC’s population consisted of about 8,000 whites and 11,000 blacks, and the elected government was a "Fusionist" coalition of white Populists and predominantly black Republicans. This proved too threatening to white supremacists. Encouraged by months of agitation against blacks, particularly the "immorality" of black men, they armed themselves and began to riot. They burned the town’s black newspaper after its editor challenged the justice of lynch law for black "rapists", they exiled the mayor and many officials, and drove thousands of black businessmen out of town. The number of African Americans killed remains unknown.