One of the most terrifying examples erupted more than a century ago, when white supremacist soldiers and police helped hunt down and kill at least 60 Black men in Wilmington in 1898.
The 1898 coup capped a months-long White Supremacy Campaign in North Carolina designed to strip black men of the vote and remove them from public office forever.
The coup was the natural outgrowth of North Carolina’s – and America’s – long history of relying on white police to perpetuate white supremacy amid fears of Black uprisings.
More than 60 years after Nat Turner’s execution, his slave revolt was cited by some white supremacists in Wilmington as justification for the militia and police violence required to put down a purported black riot in 1898.
During the 1898 campaign, white police stood by as nightriders burst into black homes in and around Wilmington, whipping Black men and threatening to kill them if they dared register to vote.
