The Wilmington Massacre

In the late 1800s, Wilmington, North Carolina, had a thriving Black middle class and political representation, which white supremacists saw as a threat. In response, they staged a violent coup and bloody massacre, overthrowing the elected city government and murdering Black citizens. The goal was to halt Black progress and permanently stifle the Black vote. This episode of Stuff You Should Know tells the story of how a prospering Black community was destroyed by racist violence, and how the massacre effectively disenfranchised Black residents of the region for generations.