HIDDEN BLACK HISTORY
The Coup Attempt That Didn’t Fail
The Wilmington Coup of 1898, America’s only successful overthrow of an elected government, has eerie parallels to the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol
“History doesn’t repeat itself, but it does often rhyme.” ~Mark Twain, American author and humorist
On January 6, 2021, a mob of Trump supporters, consisting of White supremacist militias, members of the military, and law enforcement, attacked the U.S. Capitol in an armed insurrection. The objective of the rioters was to stop the peaceful transfer of power.
As the world watched in real time, the predominantly White crowd ransacked the seat of American democracy. Violent rioters beat police with flags, while others waved the Confederate flag in the Capitol rotunda, an act that had never occurred previously — not even during the Civil War.
Hours later, with the country still reeling from the attempt to overthrow the government, a majority of the House Republican caucus voted to overturn the results of the Electoral College vote. Even in the Senate, eight Republicans joined in the baseless effort to nullify the confirmation of the Biden-Harris ticket.
