In 1898, a stolen election in North Carolina laid the foundations of the Jim Crow South and much of the structural racism that continues today.

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** THE WEEKLY REVEAL
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Saturday, November 2, 2024

Hello! In this issue:
* We look back at a White supremacist coup and its consequences.
* How did Elon Musk go full MAGA?
* We meet a young woman who was accused at 12 of lying about being raped—and did the work to put her abuser in prison herself.
* We explore the deep election denial that still lingers in swing states.

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** THIS WEEK’S PODCAST
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** Remembering a White Supremacist Coup
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Illustration by Molly Mendoza

In the late 1800s, Wilmington, North Carolina, was a city where African Americans thrived economically and held elected office. This did not sit well with White supremacists, who during the election of 1898 used violence to intimidate voters and overthrow the elected government. It’s considered the only successful coup d’etat in US history.

The leader of the coup, a former Confederate colonel named Alfred Moore Waddell, gave a speech in which he told White people: “If you see the Negro out voting tomorrow, tell him to stop. If he doesn't, shoot him down. Shoot him down in his tracks.”

This week on Reveal, we look back at that coup and its consequences. We then go further back in history, to just after the Civil War, when the US government made its famous “40 acres and a mule” promise to formerly enslaved people. Most Americans assume the promise of land was never kept, but over a two-and-a-half-year investigation, journalists at the Center for Public Integrity unearthed records that prove freed people had, and lost, titles to tracts of land that once were part of plantations.


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🎧 Other places to listen: Apple Podcasts ([link removed]) , Spotify ([link removed]) , iHeartRadio ([link removed]) , Pandora ([link removed]) , or wherever you get your podcasts.


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** OUR LATEST
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** A Florida Teen’s Remarkable Fight to Put Her Rapist Behind Bars
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Taylor Cadle. Credit: Courtesy of PBS NewsHour
In Polk County, Florida, where its sheriff has said his department will “go to the ends of the earth” to arrest child predators, one child victim was left wondering how she ended up on the other side of the law.

Taylor Cadle was 12 years old when she disclosed to a trusted adult that her adoptive father had been sexually abusing her since she was 9. Law enforcement was quick to respond, and almost just as quick to suspect that Taylor had made up the allegations. The lead detective, Melissa Turnage, began to question Taylor aggressively, even threatening her with returning to foster care if she continued with her allegations.

“I told her time and time and time and time again that I am not the liar here,” Taylor said of the detective.

Despite Taylor’s pleas, Turnage eventually sought criminal charges against her for lying to police.

In a surprising development in her case, Taylor vindicated herself.

With our partner PBS NewsHour,reporter Rachel de Leon went to Polk County to meet Taylor—and hear how she finally put her abuser in prison. ([link removed])


** PODCAST EXTRA
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** Why Elon Musk Went Full MAGA
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Tesla CEO Elon Musk (right) jumps on stage as he joins former President Donald Trump during a campaign rally at the site of Trump's first assassination attempt in Butler, Pennsylvania, on October 5, 2024. Credit: Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images
Elon Musk has donated almost $120 million of his own money to get Donald Trump reelected. He recently campaigned with Trump at New York’s Madison Square Garden, where he said he wasn’t just MAGA—he was “dark, gothic MAGA.” Musk is using both his financial resources as the world’s richest person along with the soft power he wields on X, the social media platform he bought two years ago, where he routinely posts to his 200 million followers about why they should vote for Trump.

In this Reveal podcast extra, host Al Letson talks about Musk’s political evolution with Mother Jones senior reporter Anna Merlan, who’s been covering the many ways Musk has tried to influence the 2024 election.
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** A Quote to Remember
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“We could determine the fate of the free universe, actually, in this November general election because…we are a highly competitive county that makes up a highly competitive state.”

Stephen Richer is the Maricopa County recorder in Arizona. His office is responsible for maintaining voter rolls and mailing out ballots. He’s a longtime Republican who voted for Donald Trump in the 2020 election. But since taking office in 2021, Richer has spent a lot of his time working to dispel the election lies that Trump helped create—and combating attacks leveled at him personally, coming from his own party.

Listen: Swing States of Denial ([link removed])


** In Case You Missed It
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🎧 In God We Vote ([link removed])

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🎧 Red, Black, and Blue ([link removed])
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This issue of The Weekly Reveal was written by Kate Howard and edited by Nikki Frick. If you enjoyed this issue, forward it to a friend ([link removed]) . Have some thoughts? Drop us a line (mailto:[email protected]) with feedback or ideas!

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