RALEIGH, N.C., Oct. 6 (UPI) -- Activists in North Carolina are urging state lawmakers to make reparations for 1898 riots that lead to the deaths of at least 14 black people in Wilmington.
Thirteen marches were to be held across the state this week in advance of the start of the annual state NAACP conference, The Raleigh (N.C.) News & Observer reported Monday.
The 1898 riots were started by white supremacist leaders to strip political power from black people and their allies, the News & Observer reported, noting the state has officially apologized for the riots.
The NAACP insists the state needs to go further and make reparations to the families of those who died or lost their jobs as a result of the riots, the News & Observer reported, noting the group also seeks reparations for forced sterilizations under a state program from 1929 until 1974.
Sixty percent of the 7,600 people who were sterilized were black, the News & Observer reported.
