Widespread racial violence breaks out in Wilmington, North Carolina (one of the South's most progressive, Black-majority cities) when white supremacist vigilantes, members of the police force, and former Confederate soldiers topple the predominantly African-American government and businesses and commit mass murder of at least 60 Black men.

The massacre also targets Alex Manly and his family. Manly, who is the editor of an African-American newspaper in Wilmington, wrote editorials "arguing that white males were just as guilty of having inappropriate relationships with African American women" (Anchor, n.d.). He writes these pieces in response to a newspaper article written by a white Democrat against the Black vote. This article perpetuates lynching based on the fear of Black men making sexual advances toward white women.

The massacre is carefully plotted and organized by white business owners and politicians, and leads to over 2,100 Black residents fleeing the city in the weeks that follow.