Скачать или смотреть ON THIS DAY IN 1921

The incident that ignited the massacre was a confrontation between a young Black man named Dick Rowland and a white woman named Sarah Page in an elevator. While the details of the encounter remain unclear, Rowland was arrested the following day, and rumors of an impending lynching spread rapidly throughout Tulsa. Tensions escalated as a white mob gathered outside the courthouse where Rowland was held, demanding his release.

On the evening of May 31, armed African American men arrived at the courthouse to protect Rowland and prevent a lynching. A confrontation ensued between the Black men and the white mob, leading to gunfire. The situation quickly spiraled out of control, and the white mob turned its wrath on the entire Greenwood District.

For the next 24 hours, chaos reigned as the white mob looted, burned, and destroyed homes, businesses, and churches in Greenwood. Airplanes were even used to drop incendiary devices, further fueling the fires that consumed the district. The violence and destruction were indiscriminate and brutal, leaving an estimated 300 people dead and thousands of Black residents homeless.

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