Fascinating stuff

From the AP:

Panel: N.C. should pay for 1898 race riot

RALEIGH, N.C. - 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."
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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.

More here.

I confess, i know virtually nothing about this event. I've had a few conversations with people who do know a lot about it. This is a significant development. How it will be acted upon by the legislature, of course, is indeterminate, but i think it's a pretty good guess that no significant reparations will be paid.

Wonder when the state's newspaper of record will decide to put this story up on their website? Although, to be fair, they have acknowledged their own role in fomenting this event on occasion.

Meanwhile, read more about the commission and its report here; more resources here, and here.