I sat there watching in horror as we watched the video during homeroom. What happened in Tulsa, Oklahoma? And this was recently covered by CNN? How had I never heard of this?
I grew up in Oklahoma and I can sum up what we learned about our history in two phrases: Land Run and Trail of Tears. Oh, and we memorized the counties. That’s it. There was nothing about this.
First the good news: there was a Black Wall Street in a specific neighborhood in Tulsa, Oklahoma in the early 20th century. What?!? We had one of the wealthiest neighborhoods of African-American businesses in the country. After statehood in 1907, Oklahoma came to be seen as a place of new opportunity for families of former slaves who wanted to move away from the reminders of their formerly difficult past. Around 10,000 congregated in the Greenwood section of Tulsa, which began to boast doctors, lawyers, salons, and theaters. Soon, there was a thriving community that made some of their white neighbors jealous, which meant things there were too good to last.
In 1921, the situation came to a head. An assault accusation from a white young woman directed at a black young man ignited the city. Thousands of citizens came to demand justice for both sides, even though the woman never pressed charges. The white citizens demanded a lynching. Some of the crowd came armed, and a gun went off in the ensuing arguments. All of the sudden, the city became a war zone.
The white citizens marched toward the Greenwood district, and though the black citizens initially built a barricade to halt them, they eventually broke through. What resulted was nothing less than a massacre, with possibly thousands of black men, women, and children killed, although the records are sparse. Families were separated from each other in the chaos. The few witnesses that remain remember planes actually dropping bombs in the area. The white citizens burned 35 city blocks to the ground, including most of the businesses of Black Wall Street.
After learning about this, it’s no wonder why I was never taught about it as part of Oklahoma’s history. What could have been a source of enormous pride turned out to be a horrific tragedy for our state. Thankfully, there are those trying to collect information and eyewitness accounts from the few remaining survivors before it’s too late.
It got me thinking about history and who controls it and who writes it. This is why I never really learned anything significant about the Vietnam War or Watergate or all the terrorist attacks in the 70’s when I was growing up. History is controlled by those in power, those who won or outnumbered the others, and they can tell it however they like. They can highlight the great triumphs and whitewash all their transgressions, even if it happened in their own backyards.
But what about all these buried stories of the others? What about the stories of those who were not in power and haven’t had a voice? What about the stories like Black Wall Street and the Greenwood Massacre? This is why months like Black History Month really matter – we get to hear the untold stories that are part of our collective history as well.
Resources for further information:
http://www.okhistory.org/publications/enc/entry.php?entry=GR024
My Name Means Light 