Black Wall Street • Tulsa, Oklahoma, 1921 Full Documentary "We will NEVER FORGET"
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THE DESTRUCTION OF BLACK WALL STREET
“Greenwood, Oklahoma, a suburb of Tulsa, was the type of community that African Americans are still, today, attempting to reclaim and rebuild. It was modern, majestic, sophisticated and unapologetically Black. Tragically, it was also the site of one of the bloodiest and most horrendous race riots (and acts of terrorism) that the United States has ever experienced.
It’s been almost 93 years since as many as 300 African Americans lost their lives and more than 9,000 were left homeless when the small town was attacked, looted and literally burned to the ground beginning in 1921. It’s impossible, however, to realize what was lost in Greenwood, which was affectionately known as "Black Wall Street.”
The Greenwood community seems almost imagined when we examine it through a historical lens. The oil booms of the early 1900’s had many moving to Tulsa for a shot at quick economic gains and high life, and African Americans hoped to prosper from the new industry as well. Tulsa, like many cities and towns throughout the US, was hostilely segregated, with African Americans settling into the northern region of the city. As we often saw before integration, Blacks in the area created entrepreneurial opportunities for themselves, which housed an impressive business center that included banks, hotels, cafes, clothiers, movie theaters, and contemporary homes. Greenwood residents enjoyed many luxuries that their White neighbors did not, including indoor plumbing and a remarkable school system that superiorly educated Black children.
It was pure envy, and a vow to put progressive, high achieving African Americans in their place that would cause the demise of the Black Mecca many called “Little Africa”, and its destruction began the way much terrorism, violence and dispossession against African Americans did during that era. A young White woman accused a young Black man of attempted sexual assault, which gave local mobs and White men acting as police just cause to invade the unsuspecting community. On the malevolent and horrifying attack, Linda Christenson writes the following:
“The term “race riot” does not adequately describe the events of May 31—June 1, 1921 in Greenwood… In fact, the term itself implies that both blacks and whites might be equally to blame for the lawlessness and violence. The historical record documents a sustained and murderous assault on black lives and property. This assault was met by a brave but unsuccessful armed defense of their community by some black World War I veterans and others.
During the night and day of the riot, 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.”
Recently, the mother of a Palestian activist friend of mine asked me why African Americans don’t fight harder for reparations. It was a difficult question to answer, but my most immediate response centered on the historical erasure of communities like Greenwood and the state-sponsored violence against African Americans that created its expiry. Even after slavery was abolished, any advancements towards the American dream, that Blacks paid most dearly to establish, was met with revulsion and terror, often from those whose legal obligation was to serve and protect. For that a debt is surely owed. Further, when we consider the deaths of those Black Tulsans and the inevitable property loss that followed, we again see one example of many that proves how wealth inequities and disparities became a part of the substance of this nation- inequities and disparities that must be considered before we go blaming Black youth for the catastrophes this nation has endorsed.
And as we consider what has become the new face of terror, we should never forget that Greenwood was bombed from the sky by White local and national law enforcement organizations. “
Survivors of Black Wall Street race riot still haven’t received any reparations
Some financial observers attribute the Black community’s economic woes to our unwillingness to financially support Black businesses. Well, back in 1921, in a Tulsa, Oklahoma, community named Black Wall Street, a dollar circulated 19 times before leaving the community.
That was before a white mob destroyed the town. Given the ferocity of the attack and the complicity of Oklahoma police, one would think that by now survivors would’ve been compensated for what they endured, but they haven’t been.
As BreakingBrown previously reported, Black Wall Street had its own theaters, grocery stores, independent newspapers and professional Black class before being demolished by an irate white mob angry over a Black teen’s alleged assault of a white female.
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Some financial observers attribute the Black community’s economic woes to our unwillingness to financially support Black businesses. Well, back in 1921, in a Tulsa, Oklahoma, community named Black Wall Street, a dollar circulated 19 times before leaving the community.
That was before a white mob destroyed the town. Given the ferocity of the attack and the complicity of Oklahoma police, one would think that by now survivors would’ve been compensated for what they endured, but they haven’t been.
As BreakingBrown previously reported, Black Wall Street had its own theaters, grocery stores, independent newspapers and professional Black class before being demolished by an irate white mob angry over a Black teen’s alleged assault of a white female.
In the 1921 riot, whites attacked Blacks who were living in the Greenwood area, also known as Black Wall Street. The Tulsa police were not only indifferent, but they also took part in the destruction of the wealthiest Black city in America, with officers helping to set fire to the property of Blacks who had lived and thrived in that area.
As a result of white supremacist terrorism, an estimated 10,000 Blacks were left homeless and 35 city blocks were burned to the ground. Blacks who had been injured during the assault could not even seek medical care because the Black hospital was one of the buildings torched by white mobs.
Even white attorneys in the area didn’t buy the story that the Black teen had attacked the white teenager, one reportedly having said: “Why, I know that boy, and have known him a good while. That’s not in him.”
As a result of white supremacist terrorism, an estimated 10,000 Blacks were left homeless and 35 city blocks were burned to the ground.
After the riot, Mayor T.D. Evans told a commission that what happened was “inevitable,” adding, “Let us immediately get to the outside fact that everything is quiet in our city, that this menace has been fully conquered, and that we are going on in a normal condition.”
And the city moved on and the people who lost everything, like Olivia Hooker, who is 99 now, have never been compensated for their loss.
Hooker, who was only a child during the riot, described to Al Jazeera how it impacted her. “After she witnessed white Tulsans loot her town, her perceptions of race were dramatically altered,” writes Dexter Mullins in “Survivors of infamous 1921 Tulsa race riot still hope for justice.”
he city moved on and the people who lost everything, like Olivia Hooker, who is 99 now, have never been compensated for their loss.
“I was 6 years and 3 months old when it occurred and the reason it was so devastating to me was that I had never been made aware of discrimination and hatred,” Hooker told Mullins.
“The only people that I saw who were not of my hue were people who were trying to sell something to my father for his department store and so they behaved as salesmen do. They brought things, they listened to my sister play Bach and they tried to engage the children so my father would buy their products.
“That was my image of people of another hue, and so when this terrible thing happened, it really destroyed my faith in humanity. It took a good long while for me to get over it.”
Mullins writes: “As the mob spread through Greenwood and the National Guard arrived to evacuate Black residents from their homes, Hooker’s mother saw crowds of people standing on a nearby hillside watching the disaster – with their children in tow. Hooker describes the speech her mother gave to the onlookers of the destruction”:
“She decided that all families who had brought their children to watch the destruction of the African American people – she thought she’d better tell them something. So she stood up there and gave an oration on the fact that what they were doing, bringing children to watch this, was going to be visited upon them unto the third and fourth generation,” said Hooker.
“So the children started crying and the people who brought their children to see the destruction said: ‘Make that woman shut up. She’s scaring our children.’
“And a man came from the group. I presume he was a veteran, because he limped. And he said to my mother, ‘If you’ll finish your oration, I can’t go in your house while the monsters are still in there, but I promise you when they leave I’ll go down and try to snuff out all the little blazes that they set.”
Some financial observers attribute the Black community’s economic woes to our unwillingness to financially support Black businesses. Well, back in 1921, in a Tulsa, Oklahoma, community named Black Wall Street, a dollar circulated 19 times before leaving the community.
That was before a white mob destroyed the town. Given the ferocity of the attack and the complicity of Oklahoma police, one would think that by now survivors would’ve been compensated for what they endured, but they haven’t been.
As BreakingBrown previously reported, Black Wall Street had its own theaters, grocery stores, independent newspapers and professional Black class before being demolished by an irate white mob angry over a Black teen’s alleged assault of a white female.
-------------------------------------------------
Some financial observers attribute the Black community’s economic woes to our unwillingness to financially support Black businesses. Well, back in 1921, in a Tulsa, Oklahoma, community named Black Wall Street, a dollar circulated 19 times before leaving the community.
That was before a white mob destroyed the town. Given the ferocity of the attack and the complicity of Oklahoma police, one would think that by now survivors would’ve been compensated for what they endured, but they haven’t been.
As BreakingBrown previously reported, Black Wall Street had its own theaters, grocery stores, independent newspapers and professional Black class before being demolished by an irate white mob angry over a Black teen’s alleged assault of a white female.
In the 1921 riot, whites attacked Blacks who were living in the Greenwood area, also known as Black Wall Street. The Tulsa police were not only indifferent, but they also took part in the destruction of the wealthiest Black city in America, with officers helping to set fire to the property of Blacks who had lived and thrived in that area.
As a result of white supremacist terrorism, an estimated 10,000 Blacks were left homeless and 35 city blocks were burned to the ground. Blacks who had been injured during the assault could not even seek medical care because the Black hospital was one of the buildings torched by white mobs.
Even white attorneys in the area didn’t buy the story that the Black teen had attacked the white teenager, one reportedly having said: “Why, I know that boy, and have known him a good while. That’s not in him.”
As a result of white supremacist terrorism, an estimated 10,000 Blacks were left homeless and 35 city blocks were burned to the ground.
After the riot, Mayor T.D. Evans told a commission that what happened was “inevitable,” adding, “Let us immediately get to the outside fact that everything is quiet in our city, that this menace has been fully conquered, and that we are going on in a normal condition.”
And the city moved on and the people who lost everything, like Olivia Hooker, who is 99 now, have never been compensated for their loss.
Hooker, who was only a child during the riot, described to Al Jazeera how it impacted her. “After she witnessed white Tulsans loot her town, her perceptions of race were dramatically altered,” writes Dexter Mullins in “Survivors of infamous 1921 Tulsa race riot still hope for justice.”
he city moved on and the people who lost everything, like Olivia Hooker, who is 99 now, have never been compensated for their loss.
“I was 6 years and 3 months old when it occurred and the reason it was so devastating to me was that I had never been made aware of discrimination and hatred,” Hooker told Mullins.
“The only people that I saw who were not of my hue were people who were trying to sell something to my father for his department store and so they behaved as salesmen do. They brought things, they listened to my sister play Bach and they tried to engage the children so my father would buy their products.
“That was my image of people of another hue, and so when this terrible thing happened, it really destroyed my faith in humanity. It took a good long while for me to get over it.”
Mullins writes: “As the mob spread through Greenwood and the National Guard arrived to evacuate Black residents from their homes, Hooker’s mother saw crowds of people standing on a nearby hillside watching the disaster – with their children in tow. Hooker describes the speech her mother gave to the onlookers of the destruction”:
“She decided that all families who had brought their children to watch the destruction of the African American people – she thought she’d better tell them something. So she stood up there and gave an oration on the fact that what they were doing, bringing children to watch this, was going to be visited upon them unto the third and fourth generation,” said Hooker.
“So the children started crying and the people who brought their children to see the destruction said: ‘Make that woman shut up. She’s scaring our children.’
“And a man came from the group. I presume he was a veteran, because he limped. And he said to my mother, ‘If you’ll finish your oration, I can’t go in your house while the monsters are still in there, but I promise you when they leave I’ll go down and try to snuff out all the little blazes that they set.”
“After 93 years of fighting for restitution,” Mullins writes, “Hooker admits it is not likely she’ll ever receive anything”:
“We thought we might live long enough to see something happen,” Hooker told him, “but even though I’ve lived 99 years, nothing of that sort has actually happened. You keep hope alive, so to speak, and just keep right on trying – never giving up, never, never giving up.”
Real reparations, however, come in dollars and cents, not words.
There are fewer than a dozen survivors of the riot, and they will all probably die without being compensated. All city officials have offered them thus far are empty apologies.
“I cannot apologize for the actions, inaction and dereliction that those individual officers and their chief exhibited during that dark time,” said Tulsa Police Chief Chuck Jordan in 2013. “But as your chief today, I can apologize for our police department. I am sorry and distressed that the Tulsa Police Department did not protect its citizens during those tragic days in 1921.”
Real reparations, however, come in dollars and cents, not words.
I love the movie Bessie but I sure wish somebody would make a movie about this horrific act that happened around the same time.
Respect! 5 Stars!
It's a shame that a thread about Chinx Drugz or Bobby Schmurda gets more attention than this thread.
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now.....
Tulsa
City in Oklahoma
Tulsa is the second-largest city in the State of Oklahoma and 47th-most populous city in the United States. As of July 2013 the population was 398,121, an increase of 6,215 over that reported in the 2010 Census.
The unemployment rates of African American and Hispanic Oklahomans were 8.7 and 8.1 respectively, compared with the 4.7 rate for Caucasians. (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2013)
Oklahoma veterans have an unemployment rate of 4.4 percent while post 9/11 veterans (10.7 percent) have an unemployment rate nearly double that of Oklahoma’s average (5.4 percent). (US Congress JEC, 2013)
The employment rate of working-age Oklahomans with a disability is 34.2 percent. (Cornell University Disability Status Report, 2012)
The unemployment disparity is amplified when an individual is a person of color and LGBT. The unemployment rate of LGBT adults exceeded non-LGBT unemployment among Latinos, African Americans and Asian and Pacific Islanders. Within this community, transgender unemployment is 28 percent among African Americans, 18 percent for Latinos and 18 percent for multiracial individuals. (National Gay and Lesbian Task Force and the National Center for Transgender Equality, 2011)
Tulsa
City in Oklahoma
Tulsa is the second-largest city in the State of Oklahoma and 47th-most populous city in the United States. As of July 2013 the population was 398,121, an increase of 6,215 over that reported in the 2010 Census.
The unemployment rates of African American and Hispanic Oklahomans were 8.7 and 8.1 respectively, compared with the 4.7 rate for Caucasians. (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2013)
Oklahoma veterans have an unemployment rate of 4.4 percent while post 9/11 veterans (10.7 percent) have an unemployment rate nearly double that of Oklahoma’s average (5.4 percent). (US Congress JEC, 2013)
The employment rate of working-age Oklahomans with a disability is 34.2 percent. (Cornell University Disability Status Report, 2012)
The unemployment disparity is amplified when an individual is a person of color and LGBT. The unemployment rate of LGBT adults exceeded non-LGBT unemployment among Latinos, African Americans and Asian and Pacific Islanders. Within this community, transgender unemployment is 28 percent among African Americans, 18 percent for Latinos and 18 percent for multiracial individuals. (National Gay and Lesbian Task Force and the National Center for Transgender Equality, 2011)
One of the most effective strategies for reducing black unemployment is to support black-owned businesses. This is because two out of every three workers employed in those businesses are black. In fact, black businesses can achieve employment outcomes that economic growth policy cannot.
This post examines hiring in African American-owned businesses as a strategy to reduce the high rate of black unemployment.
What do we know?
n a previous post entitled, For Unemployed Blacks, Growth is not Enough, three observations were made about black unemployment:
1. The national burden of unemployment falls heaviest upon blacks.
2. Economic growth is essential, but by itself, growth is not enough to alleviate high rates of black unemployment.
3. Incremental policy changes such as job-training programs are not likely to make a significant difference.
Currently the unemployment rate is 8.2%, but the rate for African-Americans is 14.0%, while among whites, it is 7.3%. An astounding 40.5% of black teenagers is unemployed. One key conclusion is this; even if the economy were to grow rapidly, black unemployment would still not be reduced significantly.
Consider this fact. Today GDP growth is 3%, and black unemployment is 14%. The best performance of the economy in the last decade occurred in the fourth quarter of 2003. During the period, GDP grew at 6.7%, which is more than twice the current rate. Nevertheless, the unemployment rate for blacks still averaged 10.6%. Conclusion – growth is not enough!
So what can be done?
One solution is to look to the potential of African-American businesses. The last census survey of small businesses, (the Survey of Business Owners conducted in 2007) determined African Americans owned 1.9 million small businesses. This represented 7.1% of the nation’s 27 million businesses. Furthermore, businesses owned by blacks employed 921,032 workers.
In 2007, the Gazelle Index conducted a national random survey of 350 CEOs of African-American owned businesses. The survey had a margin of error of 5%. The survey determined that 64% of employees in black-owned businesses were black. This means those businesses employed 589,460 workers in 2007.
Think of it this way. Today, there are 2.5 million unemployed black workers. As such, African American-owned businesses are capable of employing 23% or more of them. Furthermore, as these businesses grow and their employment capacity increases, two out of every three workers hired will be Black.
Conclusion – one of the most effective strategies for lowering black unemployment is to increase support for black businesses.
Why support black businesses?
The latest Gazelle Index national survey (conducted in the 4th quarter of 2011) found 46.9% of African-American owned businesses cut their workforce in response to the “Great Recession” and 22.5% decreased employment by 50% or more.
Black businesses located in the West were hardest hit by the recession; 34.6% of businesses in the West cut their workforce by 50% or more, while 25.0% in the Northeast, 23.7% in the South, and 17.9% in the Midwest did so.
On the positive side, the survey found a larger percentage of black CEOs will add workers in 2012 than the CEOs of any other racial or ethnic group. Specifically, 37.4% will add employees while only 15% will cut. Among whites, 23.5% will add workers and 11.2% will cut. Finally, 20.0% of Latinos will add workers while 17.6% will cut.
The industries where black businesses will do the most hiring are as follows: Information Technology, 52.9% of businesses will hire; Construction, 50%; Management and Administrative Services, 42.2%; Health Care and Education, 38.5%; Retail Trades 33.3%. Industries where CEO will cut include Transportation and Warehousing, and Professional and Technical Services.
Currently Congress is assisting small businesses as an employment priority. If the government targeted more aid to black-owned businesses, those firms would be able to reduce black unemployment in a way that growth policy cannot.
This post examines hiring in African American-owned businesses as a strategy to reduce the high rate of black unemployment.
What do we know?
n a previous post entitled, For Unemployed Blacks, Growth is not Enough, three observations were made about black unemployment:
1. The national burden of unemployment falls heaviest upon blacks.
2. Economic growth is essential, but by itself, growth is not enough to alleviate high rates of black unemployment.
3. Incremental policy changes such as job-training programs are not likely to make a significant difference.
Currently the unemployment rate is 8.2%, but the rate for African-Americans is 14.0%, while among whites, it is 7.3%. An astounding 40.5% of black teenagers is unemployed. One key conclusion is this; even if the economy were to grow rapidly, black unemployment would still not be reduced significantly.
Consider this fact. Today GDP growth is 3%, and black unemployment is 14%. The best performance of the economy in the last decade occurred in the fourth quarter of 2003. During the period, GDP grew at 6.7%, which is more than twice the current rate. Nevertheless, the unemployment rate for blacks still averaged 10.6%. Conclusion – growth is not enough!
So what can be done?
One solution is to look to the potential of African-American businesses. The last census survey of small businesses, (the Survey of Business Owners conducted in 2007) determined African Americans owned 1.9 million small businesses. This represented 7.1% of the nation’s 27 million businesses. Furthermore, businesses owned by blacks employed 921,032 workers.
In 2007, the Gazelle Index conducted a national random survey of 350 CEOs of African-American owned businesses. The survey had a margin of error of 5%. The survey determined that 64% of employees in black-owned businesses were black. This means those businesses employed 589,460 workers in 2007.
Think of it this way. Today, there are 2.5 million unemployed black workers. As such, African American-owned businesses are capable of employing 23% or more of them. Furthermore, as these businesses grow and their employment capacity increases, two out of every three workers hired will be Black.
Conclusion – one of the most effective strategies for lowering black unemployment is to increase support for black businesses.
Why support black businesses?
The latest Gazelle Index national survey (conducted in the 4th quarter of 2011) found 46.9% of African-American owned businesses cut their workforce in response to the “Great Recession” and 22.5% decreased employment by 50% or more.
Black businesses located in the West were hardest hit by the recession; 34.6% of businesses in the West cut their workforce by 50% or more, while 25.0% in the Northeast, 23.7% in the South, and 17.9% in the Midwest did so.
On the positive side, the survey found a larger percentage of black CEOs will add workers in 2012 than the CEOs of any other racial or ethnic group. Specifically, 37.4% will add employees while only 15% will cut. Among whites, 23.5% will add workers and 11.2% will cut. Finally, 20.0% of Latinos will add workers while 17.6% will cut.
The industries where black businesses will do the most hiring are as follows: Information Technology, 52.9% of businesses will hire; Construction, 50%; Management and Administrative Services, 42.2%; Health Care and Education, 38.5%; Retail Trades 33.3%. Industries where CEO will cut include Transportation and Warehousing, and Professional and Technical Services.
Currently Congress is assisting small businesses as an employment priority. If the government targeted more aid to black-owned businesses, those firms would be able to reduce black unemployment in a way that growth policy cannot.
BLACK WALL STREET SURVIVORS; Otis Clark
BLACK WALL STREET SURVIVORS; Augusta Mann
BLACK WALL STREET SURVIVORS; Joe Burns
Black wall street survivor
BLACK WALL STREET SURVIVOR
Thxs.
The most valuable message that i got from what happened to Black WallStreet is that we most always be prepared for war when we try to set up shop in a country where we're not wanted.
Always have options b, c, d, e, f etc on standby.
Even if you plan to speak your mind about something like police brutality (Baltimore), BE PREPARED!!!
The most valuable message that i got from what happened to Black WallStreet is that we most always be prepared for war when we try to set up shop in a country where we're not wanted.
Always have options b, c, d, e, f etc on standby.
Even if you plan to speak your mind about something like police brutality (Baltimore), BE PREPARED!!!
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BLACK WALL STREET SURVIVOR; Eldoris McCondichi
BLACK WALL STREET SURVIVOR
BLACK WALL STREET SURVIVOR
BLACK WALL STREET SURVIVOR
real stuff^^^^
real stuff^^^^
BLACK WALL STREET SURVIVORS
BLACK WALL STREET; SURVIVOR-Jobie Holderness
is this the same doc by DR BOYCE WATKINS?
BLACK WALL STREET; SURVIVOR- Eunice Jackson