Tulsa, Oklahoma Jun 1, 1921
This is the date and place that are now infamous for Whites destroying the Greenwood neighborhoods.
Racial tensions were a constant in
Tulsa in the early 20th Century. There was a great deal of resentment
by the White businessmen of Tulsa who often had to conduct business with the Black
businessmen in Greenwood, colloquially known as the “Black Wall Street” because
of the prosperity of Black businessmen and merchants.
The simmering resentment was sparked into a riot
when a 19-year-old Black man was in an elevator in downtown Tulsa with White 17-year-old Sarah Page who was working as an elevator operator. The Black man,
Dick Rowland, was accused of rape after Miss Page had screamed. She tried to
convince the police that nothing happened she was just startled when he had touched
her shoulder.
As so often happens in these cases after Mr.
Rowland was arrested a White mob gathered at the courthouse to take Rowland and
lynch him. However, this mob was shocked when they met with resistance. 30
Black men armed with guns appeared at the courthouse stopping the lynching. In
response, the White mob doubled in size and came back heavily armed.
Violence on a terrible scale consumed the
Greenwood District for the next 24 hours businesses were burned and looted, and the
district was even bombed by a crop-dusting plane. In the end, 35 square blocks
of the Greenwood District lay in ruin. It isn’t known exactly but most
historical researchers believe 300 Blacks were killed while another 800 were injured
and it is credibly estimated that 1,256 homes were destroyed along with almost
every other structure in the Greenwood District.
I first learned of the Tulsa Riot in James W.
Loewen’s book “Lies Across America” where the historian wrote about how during
Jim Crow atrocities such as this one were swept under the rug, which is very
true for Tulsa. No White man was ever charged with any crime. In fact, many of
the rioters were under the banner of law as sworn deputies in an emergency.
It wasn’t until 2001 that Oklahoma finally began
to look at its own terrible history when the Race Riot Commission was formed
to examine the evidence.
The investigation continues even now as alleged
mass graves are being searched for and any other documentation gathered.
To see an online collection of everything the
commission gathered got to
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