Editing William McKinley (section)

===Civil rights===
[[File:McKinley at Atlanta.jpg|thumb|right|McKinley, (right of center) flanked by Georgia Governor [[Allen D. Candler]] (front row to McKinley's right) and Gen. [[William Rufus Shafter]], reviewing the Atlanta Peace Jubilee parade, December 15, 1898]]

In the wake of McKinley's election in 1896, black people were hopeful of progress towards equality. McKinley had spoken out against [[lynching]] while governor, and most black people who could still vote supported him in 1896. McKinley's priority, however, was in ending [[sectionalism]], and they were disappointed by his policies and appointments. Although McKinley made some appointments of black people to low-level government posts, and received some praise for that, the appointments were less than they had received under previous Republican administrations.{{sfn|Gould|pp=153–54}}

The McKinley administration's response to racial violence was minimal, causing him to lose black support.{{sfn|Gould|pp=153–54}} When black postmasters at [[Hogansville, Georgia]], in 1897, and at [[Lake City, South Carolina]], the following year, were assaulted, McKinley issued no statement of condemnation. Although black leaders criticized McKinley for inaction, supporters responded by saying there was little that the president could do to intervene. Critics replied by saying that he could at least publicly condemn such events, as Harrison had done.{{sfn|Gould|p=155}}

When a group of white supremacists violently overthrew the duly elected government of Wilmington, North Carolina, on November 10, 1898, in an event that came to be recognized as the [[Wilmington insurrection of 1898]], McKinley refused requests by black leaders to send in federal marshals or federal troops to protect black citizens,<ref name=Time>{{cite news|title=The 1898 Wilmington Massacre Is an Essential Lesson in How State Violence Has Targeted Black Americans
|url=https://time.com/5861644/1898-wilmington-massacre-essential-lesson-state-violence/|date=July 1, 2020|newspaper=Time Magazine}}</ref> and ignored city residents' appeals for help to recover from the widespread destruction of the predominantly black neighborhood of Brooklyn.<ref name=LearnNC>{{cite news|title=Letter from an African American citizen of Wilmington to the President|url=http://www.learnnc.org/lp/editions/nchist-newsouth/4714|date=November 13, 1898|newspaper=Learn NC, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill}}</ref>

According to historian [[Clarence A. Bacote]], "Before the Spanish–American War, the Negroes, in spite of some mistakes, regarded McKinley as the best friend they ever had."{{sfn|Bacote|p=234}} Under pressure from black leaders, McKinley required the War Department to commission black officers above the rank of lieutenant. McKinley toured the South in late 1898, promoting sectional reconciliation. He visited [[Tuskegee Institute]] and the famous black educator [[Booker T. Washington]]. He also visited Confederate memorials. In his tour of the South, McKinley did not mention the racial tensions or violence. Although the president received a rapturous reception from Southern whites, many blacks, excluded from official welcoming committees, felt alienated by the president's words and actions.{{sfn|Gould|pp=156–57}}{{sfnm|Bacote||1pp=235–37|Leech||2p=348}} Gould concluded regarding race, "McKinley lacked the vision to transcend the biases of his day and to point toward a better future for all Americans".{{sfnm|Gould||1pp=159–60|Phillips||2p=149}}