The thriving Greenwood African American community also known as Black Wall Street was destroyed by a racist mob.
I’m sure you are wondering what led to such horrific violence.
Dick Rowland, a Black man was falsely assumed of assaulting a White woman.
Here’s what happened by most accounts: Dick Rowland, a Black 19 year old shoe shiner tripped and grabbed the the first thing he could which happened to be the arm of Sarah Page who screamed. The white clerk called the police and reported it as a an attempted sexual assault. The Tulsa Tribune ran a headline: “Nab Negro for Attacking Girl in Elevator.” The newspaper also claimed that Rowland had ripped off her clothes.
Let us note that Sarah Page declined to press charge or confirm that there was any attempt of assault by Dick Rowland.
Yet that did not stop the police from taking Rowland into custody or a mob from gathering.
A lynch mob gathered to hang him and many Black people hurried to the courthouse to protect him from the mob that sought to take justice into its own hands.
From May 31 through June 1, white mobs pillaged Black Wall Street which happened to be the wealthiest Black community in the US. They attacked the 35 square blocks from the ground and use of private aircrafts.
The mob destroyed and burned businesses and homes, leaving 10,000 Black people homeless, sending 800 to the hospital and murdering 26 Black people.
According to the Smithsonian,
“For fully forty eight hours, the fires raged and burned everything in its path and left nothing but ashes...and the like where once stood beautiful homes and business...proud black Tulsa was destroyed by fire.”
“To maintain segregation in the South, many white residents sought to make fear part of everyday life for African Americans.”
Even in integration, racists continue to try to instill fear.
Quotes taken from the National Museum of African American History and Culture.


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