After the end of World War One, Americans could no longer to continue to discriminate and target Germans, so naturally, they had to find another group to attack and diminish. Racism once more reared its ugly head- spikes of it included the revival of the KKK and numerous lynchings of black persons, continued violence and hate crimes targeted at blacks- one event being the Tulsa Race Riot.
I honestly thought we had moved past this horrific level of racism by the 1920s, but unfortunately, the Tulsa Race Riot, which occurred on the 31st of May, through the 1st of June, in 1921, proved me wrong. The riot consisted of a mob of whites attacking black persons, business establishments, and residences. To give some background on Tulsa, one should know that it was a prosperous city; during the '20s, oil money fueled its growth, and it was expanding by the day. In Tulsa, vigilante justice was common, even against whites. Tulsa was also extremely segregated, most of its black population (roughly 10,000 people) lived in Greenwood, which had a thriving business district commonly called "Black Wall Street".
One day, a teenager, Dick Rowland, who happened to be black, entered an elevator located in the Drexel building on S Main Street, and some time after his entrance, the elevator operator, Sarah Page called out in distress, claiming that Rowland had assaulted her. Rowland was arrested, and a group of white vigilantes demanded he be released into their custody. The sheriff refused, and Rowland was barricaded into his cell by the police force, who were protecting him from being kidnapped and lynched by the mob. The spark of violence occurred not between the officers and the white mob, but between 75 black men who came armed to aid in Rowland's protection. The 75 men faced 1,500 whites outside the courtroom, and shots were fired.
Chaos and violence broke out, and the mob attacked black persons, black business establishments, and black homes. They set fire to 1,256 residences and raided 215 others. They went on to destroy 2 newspapers, one school, one library, a hospital, numerous churches, hotels, and stores, as well as many other black businesses.
The irony of the riot lies in Rowland's fate- he was released from custody the following morning, and it was determined that he likely stumbled over Page's foot. Rowland left Tulsa and never returned, and the riot caused by his arrest was diminished and buried over time- though it took years for the black population to recover from the damages they received over the 18 hours of pure destruction.
History.com, A&E Television Networks, www.history.com/topics/roaring-twenties/tulsa-race-riot.
I really liked your post and thought it was very informative. One thing that I found interesting about the Tulsa Race Riot was that the public officials provided weapons for white individuals, some of which likely were part of the mob. Furthermore, the National Guard particularly imprisoned the black residents of Tulsa, even though they were not the instigators of the violence. In addition, the white rioters included some agents of government, which demonstrates that this sentiment was present among both regular white citizens as well as people with authority. To me, this emphasizes the extent of the ruthless hostility behind the riot.
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I think it is very interesting that this part of the roaring 20's is not the main focus despite it being a huge issue during that time. It also seems wrong that police have to protect people from being murdered by others because of their race. Its sad to see that just the color of your skin can put a person in so much danger.
ReplyDeleteThis post was incredibly interesting and very informative. I really enjoyed how you included specific examples of what the angry mobs of white people destroyed, it really allowed for me to truly understand the level of destruction they caused. It's absolutely ridiculous that an entire city was destroyed because of a black man likely stumbling over a white woman's foot and that he had to be protected from 1500 men attempting to lynch him just for this minuscule mistake.
ReplyDeleteI found it interesting how you showed that the roaring 20s wasn't all happiness and it did include some dark aspects. One interesting thing I found about the riot was what happened in the aftermath. It's terrible what all the white people did to the black community, but it's even worse that no white person faced any jail time for their actions despite the overwhelming amount of evidence there was. Instead, the black citizens of Tulsa were blamed for the actions of a riot which was not their fault. It just goes to show how terrible racism can be.
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https://www.okhistory.org/publications/enc/entry.php?entry=TU013
I found this post a very interesting take on the 20s from what one normally hears. For me, the most interesting thing was the conflicting decisions whites made about race in this particular instance. On the one hand, they attempted to lynch a black man because of allegations a white woman made against him that had to do with rape. When they were unable to gain access to him, they burned, destroyed, and looted Greenwood, the nearby, successful African American neighborhood. While this was beyond horrible, the thing I found the most interesting was that their actions proved not only an act of horror and destruction, but also premature because Rowland was found innocent and let go the next day. This shows a kind of progress because Rowland was, at the very least, found innocent, but it also shows that despite the modernity and happiness usually associated with the 20s, in America, many people were still highly racist, and willing to take extreme actions of violence to oppress the success of other races because they knew they wouldn't have to face any consequences, showing an unfortunate continuity.
ReplyDeleteI found this recap on Tulsa very helpful. The event is tragic no doubt, but the massacre of African Americans wasn't the only result of the event. The massive campaign to oppress African Americans promoted segregation and subjugation in many Southern regions. On the other hand, the gravity of the issue attracted the attention of Northern and Western white population, generating more friction between white racial activists and racists. It would greatly interest me if you can talk about your view on this rising argument on race through the lens of a person who has already researched fully on a critical event.
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