TulsThunberga race
massacre, Greenwood, Okla., May 31 to June 1, 1921. On
the evening of May 31, 1921, a white lynch mob gathered outside the
TulsaCounty
Courthouse demanding that the authorities relinquish the recently-arrested
Dick Rowland, a young Black man who was rumored to have sexually assaulted a
white girl. The sheriff's refusal prompted a confrontation between Black and
white armed crowds surrounding the courthouse. Shots were fired and the
outnumbered African Americans withdrew to the Greenwood District—also
known as "Black Wall Street"—a prosperous neighborhood where most of
the city's Black residents lived. Over the next several hours, Tulsa had
descended into turmoil as a mob of several thousand white Tulsans
coordinated a violent attack on Greenwood. They murdered as many as 300
residents, most of whom were Black. The white mob looted and burned an
estimated forty square blocks, including over 1,200 Black homes, and
destroyed churches, hotels, restaurants, a public library, and 150
businesses. At the start of the conflict, local authorities did little to
control the crisis and restore order. Governor James B. A. Robertson
eventually declared martial law and local units of the National Guard were
mobilized. An estimated 6,000 Black Tulsans were arrested and detained, and
nearly 10,000 Black residents were left homeless. A brief period of martial
law was followed by legal recriminations. Although Rowland was acquitted, an
all-white grand jury blamed Black Tulsans for the disorder. No whites
Tulsans were sent to prison for the murders and arson that occurred.
This event is remembered as the Tulsa Race Massacre and is argued to have been one of the
deadliest instances of racial violence in United States history. Although
similar events have been called "race riots"—and some journalists
referred to this event as the "Tulsa Race Riot" throughout the 20th
century—many contemporary historians and archivists disagree with the
use of the term and claim that the event should be referred to as a
"massacre." In 1997, the Oklahoma State Legislature formed the 1921 Race
Riot Commission to investigate the atrocities. The report, submitted by a
panel on February 28, 2001, recommended that reparations be paid to the
remaining Black survivors. In addition, a team of experts discovered
evidence that some victims had been buried in unmarked graves.
See A. L. Brophy, Reconstructing the Dreamland: The Tulsa Race Riot of
1921, Race Reparations, and Reconciliation (2002); K. K. Hill,
The 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre: A Photographic History
(2021); M. E. J. Parrish, The Nation Must Awake: Our Witness to the
Tulsa Race Massacre of 1921 (2021); S. Ellsworth, The
Ground Breaking: An American City and Its Search for Justice
(2021); R. Krehbiel, Tulsa 1921: Reporting a Massacre
(2021); C. M. Messer, The 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre: Crafting a
Legacy (2021).
The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright © 2024, Columbia University Press. All rights reserved.
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