Greenwood Rising Shares Two Stories Of Tragedy In Tulsa, Oklahoma's Greenwood District forbes.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from forbes.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
TULSA, Okla. Scenes of destruction look like Dresden after World War II. Thick clouds of smoke billow over an urban landscape. After the fires, buildings.
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One hundred years ago, the United States experienced two of the most bloody and destructive days in its history. In Tulsa, Oklahoma, dozens perhaps hundreds of blacks were murdered by white mobs, and three dozen city blocks, previously filled with bustling enterprises and civic life, were burned to rubble. This was racism at its worst in America. Yet there are lessons from those dark and painful days that should give us wisdom and hope for a better today and tomorrow.
In 1921, the Tulsa neighborhood of Greenwood was a shining example of progress and prosperity for blacks post-Civil War. The population of Tulsa had exploded by over 70,000 people from 1900 to 1920 due to the discovery of oil. Greenwood became home to 11,000 blacks. Racism was enshrined in strictly-enforced Jim Crow laws and segregation, yet blacks thrived by creating an independent community supported by and catering to the every need of its black residents.
The long-hidden racist attack on “Black Wall Street” and its residents is finally in the open and raising questions about all that Americans don’t know and have tried to hide.
The racist, violent attack on Black Wall Street and its residents is finally in the open and raising questions about all that Americans don’t know and have tried to hide.