The Wilmington Massacre was a merciless attack on the African American community in North Carolina. It was led by White Supremacists who wanted the Republicans to overpower. Since Black was a majority in cities,  White Supremacists saw Black voters as a threat. That is when the plan “The White Supremacy Campaign '' began, their focus was to convince white voters that African Americans were incompetent, violent, and  sexual offenders.   A group  known as “Red Shirts'', was a clan that violently assaulted African Americans. They would go to their homes and whip , beat, and threaten Black men  to kill them if they registered to vote. Thus leading Black registrations to vote to decrease. In 1896 there were 126,000 registered voters. Then in 1902, that number decreased to only 6,000 Black voters.  This wide  group of people attacked and murdered African Americans who tried to vote. The Wilmington Star and The Wilmington Messenger contributed to the massacre because they  were  white newspapers who focused on portraying stereotypes of African Americans.  These newspaper would write articles stating that associated Black men to the raping of many white men. Which eventually would lead to the lynching of many innocent victims. The Daily Record was a black newspaper led by Alexander Manly.  Alexander Manly was the editor and a very brave man. After many articles of accusations towards black men raping white women, he decided to respond by writing and article that became viral. In his article, he stated that Black men were innocent and indeed attractive to white women.  He also accused white men to be hypocritical because they would rape black women with no mercy. Afterwards, there were orders to lynch Alexander Manly but he was able to flee. 

Mary Perez