[abb]

It is no coincidence that the NandO chose now to reprise a story over a hundred years old. This is how Melanie justifies today's lynching of the DukeLax players...

http://www.newsobserver.com/news/1898_riots
The Ghosts of 1898

[Alia]

From the article:

Through the Democratic Party, whites controlled the state and local governments from 1876 to 1894. However, the party's coalition of wealthy, working class and rural whites began to unravel in the late 1880s as America plunged into depression.

...

As the 1898 political season loomed, the Populists and Republicans hoped to make more gains through Fusion. To rebound, Democrats knew they had to develop campaign issues that transcended party lines. Democratic chairman Furnifold Simmons mapped out the strategy with leaders whose names would be immortalized in statues, building names and street signs: Charles B. Aycock, Henry G. Connor, Robert B. Glenn, Claude Kitchin, Locke Craig, Cameron Morrison, George Rountree, Francis D. Winston and Josephus Daniels.

They [DEMOCRATS] soon decided that racist appeals were the hammer they needed to shatter the fragile alliance between poor whites and blacks. They made the "redemption" of North Carolina from "Negro domination" the theme of the 1898 campaign. Though promising to restore something traditional, they would, in fact, create a new social order rooted in white supremacy and commercial domination.

[SmoothTalker]

I have no problem with that article. It was an interesting read. The 1898 Race Riots were a black eye on the history of my state. I see no reason to bury them and pretend they didn't happen. And I don't see them attempting in any way to connect it to the Duke lacrosse story.

[Enterprise]

Oh my. Digging back a century for wrongful actions? There's something that came out in the Fresno Bee today about a "wrongful conviction" that happened about 30 years ago and is more in line with is happening in Durham. I can't link to it yet because I can't find it in the online version. Perhaps Boston area Freepers might be hearing about it. (I hope the Mod understands, but I will link to it as soon as I can find it online.)

The story is this:

Four men are suing the Federal Government for a wrongful conviction for murder. The suit alleges, based on recently released documents that the FBI knew who did the murder but because he was an informant, and they wanted to protect him, they allowed four innocent men to be framed for the crime. Three of the four were sentenced to death, and one got life. Two of the men who were sentenced to death died natural deaths in prison and the other two were released after serving 30 years! Now THAT is much closer to what is happening in Durham!