American Experience

American Coup: Wilmington 1898

By Brad Lichtenstein and Yoruba Richen

Telling the little-known story of a deadly race massacre and carefully orchestrated insurrection in North Carolina’s largest city in 1898 - the only coup d’état in the history of the U.S. Stoking fears of “Negro Rule,” self-described white supremacists used intimidation and violence to destroy Black political and economic power and overthrow Wilmington’s democratically-elected, multi-racial government. Black residents were murdered and thousands were banished. The story of what happened in Wilmington was suppressed for decades until descendants and scholars began to investigate. Today, many of those descendants — Black and white - seek the truth about this intentionally buried history.