State senate expresses 'profound regret' over 1898 Wilmington race riots

North Carolina's Senate approved a resolution Wednesday acknowledging the 1898 Wilmington race riot and "expressing profound regret" for the ugly chapter in the city's history, writes the Wilmington Star-News.

The resolution, which passed unanimously, was nearly identical to one sponsored by Rep. Thomas Wright, D-New Hanover, and passed by the House in May.

The new version places blame for the riot on "political leaders and others" rather than a "white elite" as in Wright's bill. Also, the Senate resolution, unlike Wright's version, had the General Assembly express regret for the "violence, intimidation and force" used on Nov. 10, 1898, and the government's unsuccessful efforts to protect citizens.

On that day, a mob, pushed by a statewide white supremacy campaign, burned a black newspaper office, killed and injured black residents, and forced the city's multiracial government from power. The event is a part of an era that included the passage of North Carolina's racial segregation, or "Jim Crow," laws that would not be undone until the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s.

The Senate resolution credits Wright for leading the Wilmington Race Riot Commission, which completed a major study of the event, but does not list him as a sponsor of the legislation.