May 31 to June 1 marked the 103rd anniversary of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The significance of this event is tied to the struggle of black people today in America.
What happened?
The massacre is believed to be one of the most violent racial incidents in American history, according to the Oklahoma Historical Society. The incident allegedly started with a sexual assault that occurred in an elevator between a young black man named Dick Rowland and a white woman named Sarah Page.
This incident led to the arrest of Rowland and “… spurred a confrontation between black and white armed mobs around the courthouse… Shots were fired and the outnumbered African Americans began retreating to the Greenwood District,” according to the Tulsa Historical Society & Museum.
The Greenwood District was a black business area that included countless restaurants, clothing shops, theaters and hotels. It was labeled as “Black Wall Street” due to its influence as an economic powerhouse according to Tulsa City County Library. Articles from the New York Times and the National Museum of African American History and Culture confirm this assertion. The mayhem of this event cost black businesses the modern equivalent of $27 million in 2021. This information was reported by a 2001 state commission report describing a list of recommended reparations due to the incident:
- Direct payment of reparations to survivors of the Tulsa Race Riot
- Direct payment of reparations to descendants of the survivors of the Tulsa Race Riot
- A scholarship fund available to students affected by the Tulsa Race Riot
- Establishment of an economic development enterprise zone in the historic area of the Greenwood District
- A memorial for the reburial of any human remains found in the search for unmarked graves of riot victims
Black men were offered help to guard Rowland and were eventually met with other armed white men that wanted to lynch Rowland, according to Homeland Security Digital Library.
White rioters looted and set Greenwood on fire the next morning on June 1. More than 800 people were treated for injuries. Contemporary reports of death began at 36. In the aftermath, 35 city blocks lay in charred ruin.
The Oklahoma Historical Society estimates the death toll ranged from 50 to 300 and that more than 1,000 homes and businesses were destroyed. The state’s second largest African American community at the time was burned to the ground.
During the violence, public officials were given weapons to terrorize Greenwood, residents were arrested by the Oklahoma National Guard and detained in holding centers. People, some of whom were government agents, stole, damaged and destroyed property such as churches, schools and hospitals, in addition to family homes.
Why did this massacre occur?
History Workshop states Sarah Page’s initial claim was propelled by the sensational rhetoric of reporting in the Tulsa Tribune. The newspaper was popular in Tulsa and its reporting led to white individuals amassing and planning to retaliate for what happened to Page. The article describes how some white Tulsans resented black achievement, were jealous of their land and became racially hostile.
The Oklahoma Historical Society states “…according to eyewitnesses, the Tribune also published a now-lost editorial about the incident, titled ’To Lynch Negro Tonight.’”
Why should this matter to you?
Imagine every black family tied to the Tulsa massacre received reparations from the 1921 Tulsa Massacre. Would this improve generational wealth in the black community? What would be the short and long term impact of this?
If reparations were paid, I would want the $27 million to be invested into black communities that lack resources for quality schools and infrastructure an affluent community enjoys.
Articles from The Root and Time mention Black Wall Streets in other cities like Chicago, Atlanta and Birmingham. Monetary resources from reparations of the Tulsa Massacre could be invested in those communities to uplift black businesses around the country.
Featured image: Photo by David Brossard via Flickr/CC BY-SA 2.0
Edited by: Nancy Martin & James Sutton
