May 31 – June 1, 1921 The Black Wall Street Massacre Event Is The Worst Incidents Of Racial Violence

#OurStruggleContinues
THIS DAY IN HISTORY: via #ZinnedProject
May 31, 1921: Tulsa Massacre
Time Periods: Prosperity, Depression, & World War II: 1920 - 1944…

Themes: African American, Laws & Citizen Rights, Racism & Racial Identity… https://www.zinnedproject.org/news/td...

African Americans did all they could to fight the fires, to no avail. Source: Tulsa Historical Society One of the most violent episodes of dispossession in U.S. history began on May 31, 1921 in Greenwood, a thriving Black neighborhood in Tulsa, Oklahoma. . . .

From May 31 through June 1, deputized whites killed more than 300 African Americans. They looted and burned to the ground 40 square blocks of 1,265 African American homes, including hospitals, schools, and churches, and destroyed 150 businesses. White deputies and members of the National Guard arrested and detained 6,000 Black Tulsans who were released only upon being vouched for by a white employer or other white citizen. Nine thousand African Americans were left homeless and lived in tents well into the winter of 1921 . . .

This assault was met by a brave but unsuccessful armed defense of their community by some Black World War I veterans and others.

This description is by Linda Christensen of Rethinking Schools in the introduction to her lesson, “Burning Tulsa: The Legacy of Black Dispossession.”

She goes on to describe why and how she and her colleagues teach about the Tulsa Massacre (often described in textbooks as a “race riot”):
We didn’t want students to get lost in the history of Tulsa, though it needs to be remembered; we wanted them to recognize the historical patterns of stolen wealth in Black, brown, and poor communities. We wanted them to connect the current economic struggles of people of color by staying alert to these dynamics from the past. We wanted them to see that in many ways Tulsa and other Black communities are still burning, still being looted.

Smoke over burning buildings in Tulsa, Oklahoma during massacre of 1921. Source: Library of Congress.

The Massacre of Black Wall Street, an illustrated story by The Atlantic.

FEBRUARY 08, 2000: After two years of meetings, the Tulsa Race Riot Commission recommended Friday that direct payments be made to survivors and descendants of riot victims. The 11-member panel also called for a memorial to the dead, scholarships and a tax checkoff program to fund economic development in the Greenwood district. View full story.

This is sadly one of countless massacres in the history of the United States. Most of these massacres were designed to suppress voting rights, land ownership, economic advancement, education, freedom of the press, religion, and/or labor rights of African Americans, Latinos, Native Americans, Asians, and immigrants. While often referred to as “race riots,” they were massacres to maintain white supremacy.

Related Resources:

Also See: Teachings about the Tulsa Massacre (including “Burned Out of Homes and History: Unearthing the Silenced Voices of the Tulsa Massacre”) and the related events of Red Summer, 1919.

NEWS:
Teaching the Tulsa Massacre
We feature lessons, articles, and other resources to teach about the Tulsa Massacre and the ongoing struggle against institutionalized racism.

TEACHING ACTIVITIES (FREE)
Burned Out of Homes and History: Unearthing the Silenced Voices of the Tulsa Massacre
Teaching Activity. By Linda Christensen. Rethinking Schools. 20 pages.
Teaching about racist patterns of murder, theft, displacement, and wealth inequality through the 1921 Tulsa Massacre.

Repair: Students Design a Reparations Bill
Teaching Activity. By Ursula Wolfe-Rocca.
In this activity, students take on the role of activist-experts to improve upon a Congressional bill for reparations for Black people. They talk back to Congress’ flimsy legislation and design a more robust alternative.

ARTICLES:
Burning Tulsa:
The Legacy of Black Dispossession
Article. By Linda Christensen. If We Knew Our History Series.Students need to learn the hidden history of the 1921 Tulsa Massacre and how this links to racial wealth inequality today.

IF WE KNEW OUR HISTORY:
Remembering Red Summer — Which Textbooks Seem Eager to Forget
The racist riots of 1919 happened 100 years ago this summer. Confronting a national epidemic of white mob violence, 1919 was a time when Black people defended themselves, fought back, and demanded full citizenship in thousands of acts of courage and daring, small and large, individual and collective.

TEACHING GUIDES:
Teaching for Black Lives
Teaching Guide. Edited by Dyan Watson, Jesse Hagopian, Wayne Au. 2018. Rethinking Schools. 368 pages.
Essays, teaching activities, role plays, poems, and artwork, designed to illuminate the movement for Black students' lives, the school-to-prison-pipeline, Black history, gentrification, intersectional Black identities, and more.

#BlackWallStreet #IndependentBlackBusinesses #BlackBusinessesMatter #LandGrab #LandBack #WeAreOurOwnHeroes