Wilmington's Lie

This book was provided to me courtesy of Goodreads Giveaway in exchange for an honest review.

When we think of government insurrections, we tend to think of the likes of those that happened on January 6th, 2021 where a group of fanatical President Trump supporters stormed the Capital Building in order to change the results of the 2020 election. Yet, there was another coup against elected officials that has stark similarities to those of January 6th. The riots and murders of African Americans at the hands of White Supremacists in 1898 occurred because a group of people in control of the media spread fake news about voter fraud and to perpetuate the ideas of African Americans as those who were unworthy of the government positions they held in society. Yet, the events of January 6th and 1898 tend to differ in one major stark contrast: unlike the events of this past year, in which Biden was still elected as President, and people have been charged in their role in storming the Capital, those people who participated in the Wilmington Riots were never brought to justice. In fact, in some cases, they were even celebrated for it.

The story of those people who lost their lives fighting for the rights of African Americans has been one that I always knew about, but had not seen in a context like this before. Everything from President Andrew Johnson's ignoring the calls to assist with Reconstruction to the rise of the Ku Klux Klan is on display here. This includes African American voting suppression using everything from formal laws to outright voter intimidation with threats of violence. This makes for a fascinating development to study and makes me look at Reconstruction within the context of those Black people living in Wilmington.

Also, unlike other books published beforehand, this one was published just recently. This means that not only are there references to ‘fake news' and other 21st Century ideas, but also to how areas in North Carolina have dealt with the events in Wilmington in recent years. This can help the reader see how we have accomplished a lot in the past few years, but we still have a lot to do.

As for the negatives, well, this is not an easy book to read. There are blatant discussions of the racist ideas that were on full display in Wilmington. This includes language and descriptions of Black people that some may find disturbing. On the other hand, perhaps they should. This helps the reader to understand what it was like to live in the Southern United States (and even the Northern United States, for that matter) and how much Black people had to face on a daily basis. Still, this was difficult to read, where I could only read it for about ten minutes at a time, as I got so angry at just how unfair it was for Black people to do the simplest things, like voting in an election, or even walk down a street.

Nevertheless, this was an excellent eye opening read that I would recommend to those people who wish to see the tactics used by White Supremacists to stop Blacks from voting in context. This was very well done, and is a worthy addition to any library. I give it a four out of five.

Meticulously researched. I struggle with historical nonfiction so it took me a while to get through, but an incredibly important and well-done book that all NC residents should read.