Posted on 06/01/2006 7:20:53 AM PDT by Mr. Brightside
Today: June 01, 2006 at 7:11:2 PDT
Panel: N.C. Should Pay for 1898 Race Riot
By MIKE BAKER
ASSOCIATED PRESS
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) - A state-appointed commission is urging North Carolina to provide reparations for the 1898 racial violence that sparked an exodus of more than 2,000 black residents from Wilmington.
The 500-page report that was produced after six years of study also said the violence, which killed as many as 60 people, was not a spontaneous riot but rather the nation's only recorded coup d'etat.
"There is no amount of money that can repair what happened years ago and compensate for the loss of lives and the loss of property," said vice chairman Irving Joyner, a professor at N.C. Central School of Law.
The commission did not provide any cost estimates, although compensation advocate Larry Thomas of Chapel Hill estimated that the economic losses calculated today are "probably in the billions of dollars."
Along with compensation to victims' descendants, the commission also recommended incentives for minority small businesses and help for minority home ownership. It also recommended that the history of the incident be taught in public schools.
State Rep. Thomas Wright, a Democrat who helped establish and chair the panel, said the next step is to file a bill in the Legislature with the recommendations. That won't happen before 2007 because the filing deadline for this session has passed.
The 1898 violence began when white vigilantes, resentful after years of black and Republican political rule during Reconstruction, burned the printing press of a black newspaper publisher, Alexander Manly.
Violence spread, resulting in an exodus of 2,100 blacks, the commission concluded. Then the largest city in the state, Wilmington flipped from a black majority to a white majority in the months that followed.
Before the violence, which led to a Democratic takeover from Republicans and Populists, black men in North Carolina had been able to vote for about three decades. But Democrats quickly passed voter literacy tests and a grandfather clause, which disenfranchised black voters until the civil rights movement of the 1960s.
"The growth of Wilmington was stunted as a result of what happened in 1898," Joyner said. "Wilmington has never recovered economically, socially or politically."
Wilmington likely became a "catalyst" for the violent white supremacist movement around the country, with other states taking note, said Lerae Umfleet, the state's lead researcher.
"Jim Crow had passed in a few other states," Umfleet said. "But the whole white supremacy campaign in North Carolina was watched around the country. People built on what happened in Wilmington."
Some previous historical accounts had portrayed the incident as spontaneous, although more recently, historians have described it as a coup d'etat.
"This sets the record straight," Wright said. "Now there is an official document confirming this part of North Carolina's - and America's - history. Nowhere in the United States has a legitimate government ever been overthrown."
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I say we make the Democratic National Committee and the NC State Democratic Party pay reparations.
Somebody always with their hand out. They should take the stance if any of those harmed are still alive, they can consider it. Otherwise forget it.
Sad to say, but I feel that if this had not happened, Wilmington today would be like Princeville.
we'll pay for the 1898 riots right after they pay for the rodney king riots!
Put some ice on it. It is time to move on.
..pretty much what Dean wishes to return to
Doogle
First of all, what is it with people whose last name is "Joyner?" I swear, I know more whackjobs with that last name...
Second, professor Joyner of NC Central School of Law should be at least somewhat familiar with the term "prescriptive period." Actually, she shouldn't, because that's a Louisiana law term. You common law folks might know that as a "statute of limitations." That means that if something happened long enough ago (like, oh, I dunno, over a hundred years in this case), you can't sue for it. Get thee to a civil procedure professor, professor.
OK, I want money for the Korean community which was the victim of a pogrom by blacks in Los Angeles in 1992.
And the victims of that riot are still alive to benefit.
And the father of a friend of mine (white) was killed
by rioters in Watts (1965).
Where's his compensation? Can he sue?
I could go on . . .
As soon as my Irish relatives are paid for their forced participation in the Oyster Wars (1882-86) on the Chesapeake Bay and enslavement in the area since the late 1700's.
And what about the taxpayers who might be paying for the investigation and court expenses for possible false rape charges in Durham, NC? Today!
Dont forget the Martin Luther King riots of 1968
Of course this is all Horse Crap. Reparations , Payments for a race riot in the 1800's , Payment for the Boston tea Party, Payments for Wounded Knee. It just goes on and on.
Everybody wants a freebie.
Princeville?
I am part Irish and Scottish.
I hope I am due more in reparations than I owe.
Small town outside of Tarboro in Edgecombe county.
http://www.townofcary.org/news/news99/pcurfew.htm
The way I figure it we're about even .... so we get a pass on all this foolishness. Now barkeep, pour us a couple of pints! Slante'
No kidding!
Long time CD. You know first hand how Princeville is.
Wow...upset over something that happened 108 years ago, and demanding compensation for people who are long since dead.
What a great way to pull yourself up by the bootstraps: demand someone else do it for you.
Unfortunately so.
At least they got rid of that idiotic control-freak mayor, though.
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