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WILMINGTON'S LIE

David Zucchino

The Murderous Coup of 1898 and the Rise of White Supremacy

This is a dramatic and definitive account of a remarkable but forgotten chapter of American history.?

By 1898 Wilmington, North Carolina, was a shining example of a mixed-race community—a bustling port?city with a thriving African-American middle class and a government made up of Republicans and Populists, including black alderman, police officers, and magistrates. But across the state—and the South—white supremacist Democrats were working to reverse the advances made by former slaves and their progeny. They were plotting to take back the state legislature in the November 8th elections and then use a controversial editorial published by black newspaper editor Alexander Manly to trigger a “race riot” to overthrow the elected government in Wilmington. With a coordinated campaign of intimidation and violence, the Democrats sharply curtailed the black vote and stuffed ballot boxes to steal the 1898 mid-term election. Two days later, more than 2,000 heavily armed white nightriders known as Red Shirts swarmed through Wilmington, terrorizing women and children and shooting at least 60 black men dead in the streets. The rebels forced city officials and leading black citizens to flee at gunpoint while hundreds of local African Americans took refuge in nearby swamps and forests.?

This brutal insurrection halted gains made by black Americans and restored racism as official government policy, cementing white rule for another 70 years. It was not a “race riot,” the lie of history, but a racially-motivated rebellion launched by white supremacists.

In?Wilmington's Lie, David Zucchino?uses contemporary newspaper reports, diaries, letters and official communications to create a gripping narrative that weaves together individual stories of hate, fear, and brutality.

David?Zucchino?is a contributing writer for?The New York Times. He was?awarded a Pulitzer Prize?in 1989 for his reporting from South Africa. He's a four-time Pulitzer Prize finalist for coverage of?Lebanon, Africa, inner-city?Philadelphia?and?Iraq. He has reported from more than three dozen countries, most recently from Iraq. Mr.?Zucchino?worked as a foreign and national correspondent for the?Los Angeles Times?from 2001 to 2016, focusing on Afghanistan, Iraq and Libya. Before that, he worked for 20 years at?The Philadelphia Inquirer, as the bureau chief in Beirut, Lebanon; Nairobi, Kenya; and Johannesburg.
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Published 2020-01-01 by Atlantic Monthly Press

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Winner of the Pulitzer Prize 2021 in the General Nonfiction category. "A gripping account of the overthrow of the elected government of a Black-majority North Carolina city after Reconstruction that untangles a complicated set of power dynamics cutting across race, class and gender." Read more...

“One of the great journalists of our time has placed his discerning eye on the steaming cauldron of our shared racial history. The result is this extraordinary book written with the superb quality and journalistic excellence that is Zucchino's trademark.” ?James McBride, National Book Award–winning author of The Good Lord Bird “David Zucchino is one of the finest foreign correspondents I have ever worked with in 40 years of journalism. Now imagine you take someone with David's reporting skills and transport him back in history to 1898 and Wilmington, North Carolina. And you tell him to tell us the story of the only violent overthrow of an elected government in American history. It was perpetrated by white supremacists seeking to reverse the remarkable advances in racial pluralism in Wilmington of that day?a positive example that was primed to spread throughout the state, and beyond. What you end up with is a gripping, cannot-put-down book that is both history and a distant mirror on just how much can go wrong in this great country of ours when populist politicians play the race card without restraint.” ?Thomas L. Friedman, New York Times columnist “A staggeringly great book, both thrilling and tragic, shining light on a dark passage of American history." ?Tim Weiner, National Book Award–winning author of Legacy of Ashes “Wilmington's Lie is riveting and meticulously reported and powerfully written. It is also scalding and revelatory. As David Zucchino shows with relentless drama, the end of the Civil War was not the end of slavery but the beginning of a period more terrifying, the unchecked rise of white supremacy that culminated in a day of unparalleled blood in a North Carolina coastal town. It is a forgotten chapter in American history. Zucchino has now made it an unforgettable one.” ?Buzz Bissinger, author of Friday Night Lights

“Brilliant Zucchino, a contributing writer for the New York Times, does not overwrite the scenes. His moral judgement stands at a distance. He simply describes what happened and the lies told to justify it all The details contained in the last part of the book are heart-wrenching. With economy and a cinematic touch, Zucchino recounts the brutal assault on black Wilmington.” ?New York Times “This is an amazing story.” ?Dave Davies, NPR's Fresh Air “David Zucchino offers a gripping account of one of the most disturbing, though virtually unknown, political events in American history Thanks to Mr. Zucchino's unflinching account, we now have the full, appalling story. As befits a serious journalist, he avoids polemics and lets events speak for themselves. Wilmington's Lie joins a growing shelf of works that unpeel the brutal realities of the post-Civil War South it is books such as these, not least Wilmington's Lie, that have redeemed the truth of post-Civil War history from the tenacious mythology of racism.” ?Wall Street Journal “Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist David Zucchino cuts through a century of propaganda, myth, and big white lies to unmask the stunning history of the Wilmington coup, its origins in the political climate of the era, and its far-reaching implications for North Carolina and the rest of the resurgent Confederacy in the decades that followed.” ?New York Journal of Books “Wilmington's Lie is a riveting and mesmerizing page turner, with lessons about racial violence that echo loudly today.” ?BookPage “Usually, when we read history, we at least have a cursory knowledge of the subject at hand. Sometimes, however, a book comes along that just surprises. How did we not know about this before? we ask ourselves. Wilmington's Lie is such a book We did not have to wait long for the first great history book of the new decade.” ?Chris Schluep, Amazon “Best of January” Selection “Pierces layers of myth and invented history . . . Wilmington's Lie reconstructs the only violent overthrow of an elected government in U.S. history, tying the white supremacist bloodshed to political goals that are still relevant today.” ?Shelf Awareness “Extremely compelling and convincing...Even astute readers of history and civil rights will be alarmed by this story, which is why it should be read. For fans of American history, politics, and civil rights.” ?Library Journal “Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist Zucchino delivers a searing chronicle of the November 1898 white supremacist uprising in Wilmington, N.C., that overthrew the municipal government Drawing on a wealth of primary sources, Zucchino paints a disturbing portrait of the massacre and how it was covered up by being described as a “race riot” sparked by African-Americans. This masterful account reveals a shameful chapter in American history.” ?Publishers Weekly (starred review) “Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Zucchino shines his reporter's spotlight on what he aptly calls a murderous coup as well as exploring its background and longterm consequences The result is both a page-turner and a sobering reminder of democracy's fragility.” ?Booklist “A searing and still-relevant tale of racial injustice at the turn of the 20th century A book that does history a service by uncovering a shameful episode, one that resonates strongly today.” ?Kirkus Reviews (starred review)