RALEIGH (AP) -- The North Carolina House has given final approval to a bill that acknowledges the historical truth of the 1898 race riot in Wilmington.
Members voted 65-to-51 in favor of the measure, which now goes to the Senate.
As they did before last week's preliminary approval, lawmakers again debated whether the bill should include language acknowledging that white Republicans were among the riot's victims.
The major argument today was over the possibility that the measure would open the field to lawsuits by the descendants of those who were killed, injured or forced to leave town.
Representative Dan Blue, chairman of the committee that approved the measure, acknowledged that such lawsuits would be allowed under measures that were recommended by a commission on the riots. But he said none of those bills has been heard yet by his committee, and he indicated their chances wouldn't be good.
(Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
