Tulsa Tulsa Tulsa (8) Massacre's throughout America's History

     Wealth begets wealth and money is power but we know through the years Black people have been systematically stripped of both their wealth and their power. The average black family holds only one 7th the wealth of the average white family. While explanations for this vary depending on who asked, some may say it's due to a lack of initiative. That the difference is a show of character, but a look at history will reveal the true answer. We hear lots about Abraham Lincoln and how he freed the slaves, but we don't hear about the continuation of Black subjugation that happens right after slavery. After slavery was ended during the reconstruction era many black people were very hopeful, they began electing officials and electing them into office, but every time Black people begin building themselves up there is always someone eager to tear them down.

    In 1921 Tulsa, Oklahoma was home to Black Wallstreet, one of the wealthiest Black communities in the nation at the time. Through entrepreneurship and Black business, the Black citizens of Tulsa were growing their wealth and power. The Greenwood district at the heart of Black Wallstreet became the site of the "single worst incident of racial violence in America's History". Tensions had risen to an all-time high in White communities because of the success of the Black citizens. When a Black male teen named Dick Rowland got on an elevator with Sarah Page a teenage White woman. Something happened where Sarah Page screamed and they both ran off the elevator. Although Sarah refused to press charges, the local newspapers publicized it as rape and called for violent "justice". Mobs of White Tulsans went into Black Wallstreet burning and looting the ground and killing an estimated 300 Black people. 35 city blocks were destroyed leaving over 1,000 residents homeless. For a long time, the incident was called a "riot" and was celebrated on Postcards by White residents. A reexamination of the massacre almost a full century later is bringing the massacre back into the light to show just how terrible the incident was and honor the Black lives taken in the massacre.

    One would be remiss to think the terrible act of massacring Black people was an isolated incident. There are dozens of Massacres just like this dating back to the end of slavery. Examples from the ZinnedProject's list of American Masssacre's include but are certainly not limited to:

May 1 – 3, 1866: Memphis Massacre

White civilians and police killed 46 African-Americans and injured many more while burning houses, schools, and churches in Memphis, Tennessee.

Sept. 28, 1868: Opelousas Massacre

In response to the promotion of voter registration, a KKK-like group massacred hundreds of people, most of who were African American.

April 13, 1873: Colfax Massacre

The KKK carried out the Colfax Massacre in response to a Republican victory in the 1872 elections.

Nov. 10, 1898: Wilmington Massacre

The interracial, elected Reconstruction era local government was deposed in a coup d’etat in Wilmington, North Carolina.

Aug. 14, 1908: Springfield Massacre

Springfield Massacre was committed against African Americans by a mob of about 5,000 white people in Springfield, Illinois.

Sept. 30, 1919: Elaine Massacre

Black farmers were massacred in Elaine, Arkansas for their efforts to fight for better pay and higher cotton prices. A white mob shot at them, and the farmers returned fire in self-defense. Estimates range from 100-800 killed, and 67 survivors were indicted for inciting violence.

Nov. 2, 1920: The Ocoee Massacre

More than 50 African Americans killed in the Ocoee Massacre after going to vote in Florida.

These massacres arent just in the past either, more recent accounts include the Greensboro Massacre (1979) in which five people were killed when the Ku Klux Klan and Nazis fired on an anti-Klan rally in Greensboro, North Carolina, as well as the very recent Charleston Church Massacre (2015) in which nine African American churchgoers were murdered inside a church in an act of white supremacist terrorism. Of the over 30 registered massacres in American history, a majority of them are by White Americans on Black Americans.

    These events are extremely important to remind people just how ingrained racism is in our society just how much damage it has done. Without this knowledge, it is easy to say that Black people need to "get over it" and pick themselves up by their bootstraps but armed with this knowledge one would know that Black people have and continually do uplift themselves and every time they do they are punished for it. We need to acknowledge the damage racism has caused so we can finally break the cycle and pay tribute to the direct effect it has had on the Black community.

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Which massacres will you help publicize through your curriculum? (write it out)

What are the first steps in your plan? (take action)

Further Reading:

*List of US Massacres - https://www.zinnedproject.org/collection/massacres-us/

Podcast - Code Switch: Tulsa, 100 Years Later

*Podcast - Reveal: Remembering a White Supremacist Coup

Podcast - Throughline: The Modern White Power Movement

Teachable Content:

The massacre of Tulsa's "Black Wall Street" (9 min) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x-ItsPBTFO0&t=88s

When white supremacists overthrew a government (12 min) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LVQomlXMeek