Wilmington's Lie

     Sometimes groups of people do horrendous things to people they have viciously demeaned to point where they don't recognize their humanity. Think Hitler's Germany. Sometimes these acts of aggression are covered up so thoroughly they vanish from collective memory until determined researchers bring them to light. And we are horrified. A prime example is the Tulsa, Oklahoma Massacre, a night in which armed whites ruthlessly attacked a prosperous Black community--murdering, looting and burning. We've looked at that crime against humanity. A lesser known one is what went down in Wilmington, North Carolina in the election election year of 1898. David Zucchino brings it vividly to life in Wilmington's Lie: The Murderous Coup of 1898 And The Rise of White Supremecy. 

     Nearing the end of the nineteenth century, just decades after the Civil War, North Carolina's largest city was prospering. But not all its citizens were happy campers. Some Black professionals and business owners were integrating white neighborhoods and enjoying middle class lifestyles. A lot of Blacks were voting. Some were even getting elected to positions in which they were in authority over whites.

     White supremacists considered this situation intolerable. They were striving to return their state to the idyllic (in their minds) days when whites ruled supreme and Blacks "knew their place." They chose the 1898 election as a time to take back the state legislature, disenfranchise the Blacks, and terrify them into total submission. Their weapons were carefully nurtured terror, false news, violence, and ballot tampering.  

     Leading up to the election Blacks were threatened with loss of jobs, homes, and life if they registered or voted. Red Shirts roamed Black neighborhoods at night whipping terrified residents. But white fears were played on too, most notably the images of Black men as sexual predators coming after their chaste wives and daughters. 

     And the election was just the beginning of the reign of terror. 

     Wilmington's Lie is thoroughly researched, but not boringly scholarly. Zucchino brings the events and characters vividly to life as complex and sometimes contradictory individuals. He incorporates primary sources such as diaries, letters, newspaper stories, and photographs. 

     And this isn't just a snapshot from the past. White supremecy is still alive and well as we saw in the most recent presidential election. 

On a purrrsonal note, this past week's blood drive was unlike any I've ever experienced. We had two handicaps. Lisa Morin who usually runs the show was out sick and I knew counting on me to step up. Simultaneously we were getting a lot of donors who were dizzy and even two who tried to stand up and collapsed. So the nurses needed me to step up. And I did. Lisa told the interim Dean that UMaine couldn't have pulled the blood drive off without me. It made me so proud and confident.

Jules Hathaway 

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