Black Wall Street Reaction Paper

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Tulsa Race Riot: What Happened and Why

In 1921, Tulsa, Oklahoma, like many other American cities, was a hotbed of racial tension and the Ku Klux Klan was large, accepted and active in "keeping blacks in their place." Although Jews and Catholics were also targeted, African-Americans were far and away their primary targets. Blaming these minorities for the mainstream society's problems was a simple answer to a complex problem. The brutalities that were visited upon the African-America community in Tulsa were so severe and widespread that the event should be called the "Tulsa Race Massacre."

The prosperity that was being enjoyed by many blacks in Tulsa at the time in an area known as "Black Wall Street" and the nice homes that the whites could see from downtown Tulsa served to infuriate many of them to the point where any excuse would be sufficient to exact their revenge for being so "uppity." Moreover, the residents of "Black Wall Street" were successful professionals, including doctors, lawyers, PhDs, and entrepreneurs and an African-American newspaper was published there. Merchants and residents in the nearby "Little Africa" community were also highly prosperous. In fact, "Little Africa's" mainstream, Greenwood, was referred to as "Black Wall Street." These were the cream of the African-American crop, so to speak, having been attracted to North Tulsa by virtue of this business community and apparent opportunities. Indeed, many of these residents were millionaires and it is easy to understand how poor white people that were blinded by racism and outright hatred for African-Americans would envy this prosperity and success.

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The catalyst for this turning point in Tulsa's history was something that would likely go completely unnoticed today, but when "Diamond Dick" Rowland stumbled while entering an elevator so he could use the bathroom on the 10th floor of the Drexel Building, he reached out and accidentally touched the white female elevator operator who responded by yelling "rape." Rowland was arrested and things spiraled out of control after that point.

This documentary produced both physical and emotional reactions, including feeling sick to my stomach and ashamed that I was part of a race that could treat human beings in this fashion, even if the riot was almost a century ago. The numerous images of black people hanging from trees, surrounded by foolishly grinning whites carrying guns and acting proud were highly disturbing. It is nearly unbelievable that these things actually happened right here in the United States where everyone enjoys the protections of the Bill of Rights by virtue of the Fourteenth Amendment.

The fact that the riot was provoked in large part by a falsified article concerning the incident, the "perpetrator" and the victim in the now-defunct "Tulsa Tribune" and an editorial that called for Rowland's lynching was an….....

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The Black Wall Street

Black Wall Street was the name given to the affluent black community of Greenwood Avenue in Tulsa, Oklahoma (Jaynes, 2011). They generated a prosperous and self-sufficient business district amidst intense racism and segregation laws. Several upper class and middle class blacks lived and worked in the area with the town generating high black economic activity (Rogers, 2010). What began as a journey to Greenwood Avenue in Tulsa as servants, led the pioneering business owners to turn inward and produce their own society where most of the capital spent went back… Continue Reading...

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