A Black man killed in the Wilmington, North Carolina massacre 123 years ago was finally given a funeral.
Joshua Halsey was one of up to 250 people murdered by white supremacists during the racist attack on the thriving Black community. At the time, Wilmington had a strong workforce equipped with Black government officials, laborers, industrial workers, and more. The community built libraries and had established a loan association. However, that came to a halt in November 1898 when a mob of white people killed many residents and burned down their businesses. Unfortunately, the actual death toll is unknown because some of the deceased were thrown in a local swamp, while others are thought to be buried on private property.
For years, Halsey’s remains lay in an unmarked grave until The Third Person Project, a historical research group, began efforts to identify the victims. In addition to Halsey, the remains of Samuel McFarland have also been identified.
Saturday’s funeral was led by Reverend William Barber II, who called Halsey’s murder a “meticulously planned” attack carried out in part by government officials. Barber II compared the massacre’s organizer and former mayor of Wilmington, Alfred Moore Waddell, to Donald Trump, calling Waddell a “charismatic, racist orator” who traveled the country holding rallies to warn other whites about “Negro domination.”
“In other words, he was killed by a man who would have rallies and rev people up at their rallies with his lies. Sound familiar?” Barber II said during his sermon.
Several descendants of Halsey attended the funeral service, including Elaine Cynthia Brown, who hoped that the discovery would make way for others to be identified and given proper burials.
John Jeremiah Sullivan, who worked with The Third Person Project for two years on the efforts, said they’ve known for about 25 years that the remains were in the cemetery, but since the graves were unmarked, they hadn’t found Halsey’s until this year.
A tombstone has now been placed at Halsey’s final resting place.
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