WILMINGTON
New Hanover County • North Carolina
Wilmington Massacre of 1898
The ethnic European and African history of Wilmington spans more than two hundred and fifty years. By the 1890s Wilmington was a Majority-Black, racially integrated prosperous city, and the largest city in North Carolina.
In the early 1890s White supremacists began a campaign to undermine the prosperity of Wilmington. This lead to the Wilmington massacre of 1898. White supremacists launched a coup that overthrew the legitimately elected local Fusionist government leading to the destruction of a unified, diverse and prosperous Wilmington.
This insurrection on Thursday, November 10, 1898 has been characterized as a coup d’état, the violent overthrow of a duly elected government, by a large group of White supremacists. Tension over the competition for jobs, economic control and the desire to have more local political power is what motivated these insurrectionists.
They expelled opposition Black and White political leaders from the city, destroyed the property and businesses of Black citizens built up since the Civil War, including the only Black newspaper in the city, The Daily Record, killed an estimated 300 Black people, and ran thousands out of town under the threat of death.
This racial terror coincided with broader efforts of disenfranchisement Black voters at the state level. Whereas North Carolina had 125,000 registered Black voters in 1896, it had 6,000 by 1902. By 1910, Charlotte overtook Wilmington as the state’s largest city. Racism destroys diversity, cities, communities, its prosperity, and its economic development. All of which are needed for future growth.
Today, in Wilmington, the University of North Carolina Wilmington (UNCW) provides a wide variety of programs for undergraduates, graduate students, and adult learners, in addition to diversity, cultural, and sports events open to the entire community.
Every effort is being made to have an all-inclusive community where diversity, social justice, social integration inspires growth and opportunity. On September 2, 2020, President Trump officially declared Wilmington as the first World War II heritage city in the country.
Now, in 2021, Wilmington is back and has become a haven for business growth with a very diverse business community. Local business owners are developing a prosperous commercial network of motivated customers. Alphabet Local is here to connect local business with local customers.
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