Friday from the Archives: “Black, White and Gray: The Wilmington Race Riot in Fact and Legend” by Bennet L. Steelman in NCLR 1994
By Azner Alvarez, Editorial Assistant
In today’s social climate, there are many events taking place which have resulted in tragic ends for many individuals and communities due to racial discrimination. This shows why it is always important to look at history to avoid mistakes we made in the past. Steelman’s essay on the Wilmington riots outlines and explains how such events are created from political and racial instigations.
Steelman begins with a re-enactment of the riot and the arson of Alexander Manly’s Record’s office. Later on, there was a confrontation with the mob, which led to the eventual death of an estimated 4-5 Black individuals. The event, as described by Steelman, “is generally recognized as the onset of the Jim Crow era in North Carolina.”
Steelman furthermore breaks down the events after the riots and explains how many were afflicted by this event. “[T]he riot frightened blacks out of politics and away from voting… This fear lingered for decades after the incident.” It is important to look at the parallels in the tactics used to manipulate the anger of white individuals towards Blacks and how today’s political groups are creating propaganda to discriminate against minority groups.
From the most recent book, They Stole A City by Lauren Collins, to the Pulitzer Prize winner Wilmington’s Lie by David Zucchino, to the original story The Marrow of Tradition by Charles Chesnutt (and many others), there are many texts to learn more–and from–this harrowing event in our state’s history.
Read the entire essay in Gage Literature and pick up a 1994 issue today!
