This article is rated C-class on Wikipedia's content assessment scale. It is of interest to the following WikiProjects:

Military history: Biography / North America / United States / American Civil War This article is within the scope of the Military history WikiProject. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the project and see a list of open tasks. To use this banner, please see the full instructions.Military historyWikipedia:WikiProject Military historyTemplate:WikiProject Military historymilitary history articles This article has been checked against the following criteria for B-class status: Referencing and citation: criterion not met Coverage and accuracy: criterion met Structure: criterion met Grammar and style: criterion met Supporting materials: criterion met Associated task forces: /  Military biography task force North American military history task force United States military history task force American Civil War task force U.S. Congress This article is within the scope of WikiProject U.S. Congress, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of the United States Congress on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the discussion and see a list of open tasks.U.S. CongressWikipedia:WikiProject U.S. CongressTemplate:WikiProject U.S. CongressU.S. Congress articles ??? This article has not yet received a rating on the project's importance scale. This article is about one (or many) person(s). Biography: Military / Politics and Government This article is within the scope of WikiProject Biography, a collaborative effort to create, develop and organize Wikipedia's articles about people. All interested editors are invited to join the project and contribute to the discussion. For instructions on how to use this banner, please refer to the documentation.BiographyWikipedia:WikiProject BiographyTemplate:WikiProject Biographybiography articles This article is supported by the military biography work group (assessed as Low-importance). This article is supported by the politics and government work group (assessed as Low-importance). United States: Civil War / Military history / South Carolina Low‑importance This article is within the scope of WikiProject United States, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of topics relating to the United States of America on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the ongoing discussions. Template Usage Articles Requested! Become a Member Project Talk Alerts United StatesWikipedia:WikiProject United StatesTemplate:WikiProject United StatesUnited States articles Low This article has been rated as Low-importance on the project's importance scale. This article is supported by WikiProject Military history - American Civil War task force. This article is supported by WikiProject Military history - U.S. military history task force. This article is supported by WikiProject South Carolina (assessed as Mid-importance).

Aiken likely did oppose recently freed slaves from voting, though it had nothing to do with race. Most freed slaves were uneducated. Uneducated voters were feared because it was thought they could be easily swayed by crooked, ambitious politicians. This fear lead to more fear, which lead to irrationality, which lead to stupidity, which lead to a very shameful period in SC history. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 68.19.3.218 ( talk) 02:28, 12 May 2014 (UTC) reply

Any information on D Wight Aikens involvement in Red Shirt Activities is contested, and does not belong on wikipedia. While the KKK may have used the Grange as a cover for their activities, there were actually black Granges contemporary with the American reconstruction. The Grange is not, nor has it ever been a white supremacist organization. Many members were in the Grange from all walks of life. D. Wight Aiken could have just as likely been set up, so who knows. There is no factual evidence. Every source (or sources of the sources) notes this is hearsay. Check them! — Preceding unsigned comment added by JMfor2001 ( talk • contribs) 01:47, 12 May 2014 (UTC) reply

The following statement is being removed for the following reasons (1) The source does not seem to cite where it got the information. This source also seems biased. (2) The red shirt terrorist is a modern group. If true, this statement needs a better source and rewording.

.. During Reconstruction he participated in Red Shirt terrorist activities against Republicans and publicly (and successfully) called for the murder of a newly elected black Republican state senator.[1] — Preceding unsigned comment added by JMfor2001 ( talk • contribs) 12:17, 21 June 2012 (UTC) reply

Sorry for my delay in replying, I've only just noticed your revert of some of my edits. I've created a new section since it may take some discussion to reach consensus on how best to present the material about Aiken and his involvement in white supremacist activities. I've numbered items for convenience, so that any response can either be inline or refer to the numbered list.

I would suggest comments on the suitability of each source followed by a new section providing sources with alternate perspective, perhaps exonerating Aiken or supporting the claim that he was set up.

From there, we can work together on language that captures the controversy in a suitable fashion.

Here are the sources I have found with respect to Aiken and his involvement in assassination, Red Shirt, and KKK activities.

• 1. Aiken had publicly issued threats against Randolph's life

Kantrowitz, Stephen (2000). "Chapter 3: One Man's Mob is another Man's Militia: Violence, Manhood, and Authority in Reconstruction South Carolina". Jumpin' Jim Crow: Southern Politics from the Civil War to Civil Rights. Princeton University Press. p. 84, footnote 16.

• 2. Aiken publicly called for the assassination of a black state legislator, Benjamin F. Randolph, saying “never to suffer this man Randolph to come into your midst; if he does, give him four feet by six.” Shapiro, Herbert (January, 1964). "The Ku Klux Klan During Reconstruction: The South Carolina Episode". The Journal of Negro History. 49 (1): 35–36. JSTOR  2716475. {{ cite journal}}: Check date values in: |date= ( help)

• 3. The federal military authority in the region received reports that Aiken was involved in the assassination. De Knight, W.F. (Oct 16, 1868). "Reconstruction as an Armed Insurgency".

• 4. Aiken was arrested by state constables on November 9, 1868, and detained on suspicion as an accessory before the fact. "Arrest of Col. D. Wyatt Aiken". The Daily Phoenix. Columbia, SC. November 10, 1868. p. 2, col. 6.

• 5. Aiken was released on $5,000 bail on November 12. "Release of Col. Aiken". The Daily Phoenix. Columbia, SC. November 13, 1868. p. 2, col. 5.

• 6. Aiken subsequently wrote an open letter to the state Governor, published in the Charleston Daily News on November 19, 1868, disputing the authority of the state Constable to arrest him and claiming that he was feloniously incarcerated in Columbia for two days. "Sharp Letter from Col. D. Wyatt Aiken to Governor Scott Denouncing his late Arbitrary Arrest". Charleston Daily News. November 19, 1868. p. 1.

Here are some additional resources which may be of use in this discussion, but which I don’t see as tied to specific claims about Aiken’s involvement.

• 7. Zuczek, Robert (2006). Encyclopedia of the Reconstruction Era: A-L. Greenwood Publishing Group. pp. 26–27. ISBN  9780313330742.

• 8. "Testimony of William Tolbert, Hoge v. Reed, contested election". United States Congress: Testimony Taken by the Joint Select Committee to Inquire into the Condition of Affairs in the Late Insurrectionary States: The Ku-Klux Conspiracy. IV: South Carolina. U. S. Government Printing Office: p. 1256–1260. 1872. {{ cite journal}}: |pages= has extra text ( help) In this section of the report, Tolbert testifies to the efforts to suppress the black vote in South Carolina and his involvement in the assassination of Randolph.

• 9. "Reconstruction as an Armed Insurgency: Assassination of B.F. Randolph (Hodge's Depot)". Ehren Foley, Public History Program at the University of South Carolina. 2012. Web page with map and links to primary sources concerning Randolph's assailants. A related page contains an extensive bibliography on reconstruction in South Carolina.

• 10. Burke, W. Lewis. "All we ask is Equal Rights". University of South Carolina Law School.

• 11. Powers, Jr., Bernard E. (1994). Black Charlestonians. Fayetteville: University of Arkansas Press. p. 149. ISBN  9781610750707.

• 12. Huff, Jr., A. V. (April 26, 2006). "Political Assassination in South Carolina". South Carolinian Society, 70th Annual Meeting.

• 13. "More arrests in Abbeville". The Daily Phoenix. Columbia, SC. December 30, 1868. p. 1, col. 1.

• 14. Zuczek, Richard (1996). State of Rebellion: Reconstruction in South Carolina. Columbia: University of South Carolina Press. pp. 54, 57–58. ISBN  9781570031052.

Dictioneer ( talk) 01:33, 17 May 2014 (UTC) reply