Tulsa: The Fire and the ForgottenUncovers the Emotional Truth Behind One of the Worst Incidents of Racial Violence in American History, Premieres Monday, May 31 on PBSProduced and directed by Jon
In 1921, a white mob destroyed a black neighborhood in one of the country’s worst episodes of racial violence. A new film traces the echoes of violence, long whitewashed from textbooks, into the present
Panelists include:
The Washington Post and associate professor at the Philip Merrill College of Journalism
Paul Gardullo, historian and curator of the exhibition on the Tulsa Race Massacre now on view at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture
State Representative Regina Goodwin; Greg Robinson II, Director of Met Cares Foundation
Co-producer of the film, Eric Stover, Faculty Director of the Human Rights Center at University of California, Berkeley
About the Film
One of the worst incidents of racial violence in American history occurred 100 years ago, May 31-June 1, 1921. Known as the Tulsa Race Massacre, a mob of white residents set fire to “Black Wall Street” hundreds of Black-owned businesses and homes in the Greenwood district of Tulsa, Oklahoma killing an estimated 100-300 Black residents and leaving an estimated 10,000 Black residents homeless. The new documentary
May 6, 2021
Tulsa: The Fire and the Forgotten
, a production Saybrook Productions Ltd. in association with The WNET Group, premieres Monday, May 31 at 9 p.m. on THIRTEEN.
One of the worst incidents of racial violence in American history occurred 100 years ago, from May 31 to June 1, 1921, when a mob of white residents set fire to “Black Wall Street,” an affluent Black community in the Greenwood district of Tulsa, Oklahoma. Known as the Tulsa Race Massacre, this act of anti‑Black violence destroyed hundreds of Black-owned businesses and homes, killing an estimated 100-300 Black residents, and leaving an estimated 10,000 Black residents homeless.
This explosion of racial terror was compounded by the silence that followed. No one was punished for the crimes committed, and history textbooks often made no reference to them even in Oklahoma so many Americans are still unaware of this history.
Tulsa: The Fire and the Forgotten,
The Washington Post reporter
DeNeen L. Brown interviews descendants of Greenwood residents and business owners and today’s community activists. She asks them about the city’s 2018 decision to search for mass graves from 1921, community demands for reparations, and today’s efforts to revive the Black district of Greenwood through education, technology, business development, and more.
“Last year, teams of archaeologists and forensic anthropologists found a mass grave in the city-owned cemetery, which may be connected to the massacre,” said Brown. “This spring, the City of Tulsa plans to commemorate the 100
th anniversary of the massacre, as descendants of survivors demand reparations for what was lost and protest against current oppression and racism.”